Data on Covid-19 After-effects | 15 Jul 2020
Why in News
Recently, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has started collecting data on post Covid-19 medical complications from leading central government and other hospitals across India.
- DGHS is a repository of technical knowledge concerning public health, medical education and health care. It is an attached organisation of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Key Points
- Leading physicians from across the country have indicated that they are seeing some worrying medical complications among the recovered patients.
- Stress on the body associated with Coronavirus could lead to long and short term complications.
- Data is being collected on the medical complications including Covid-19-induced diabetes, impaired lung, heart, liver and brain functions along with acute fatigue and dyspnea (shortness of breath).
- It would help the Health Ministry to come out with guidelines on further care and treatment of those who had recovered.
- Data Highlight:
- 86% of the Covid-19 cases in the country were reported from 10 states, with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu accounting for 50%.
- The overall recovery rate had climbed from 47.6% (31st May) to 63.02% currently.
- Trends in Recovered Patients:
- Patients took a long time to fully recover with complaints of feeling lethargic, completely drained out, mentally depressed with the inability to concentrate.
- Those who developed pneumonia, lung function improves within some months of recovery but some may not normalise due to the fibrosis (development of fibrous connective tissue as a reparative response to injury or damage).
- Possibilities of long-term lung function deterioration and vascular diseases.
- Indications of Covid-induced diabetes.
- After-effects of Covid-19:
- The damage is caused by thrombosis in the small vessels that ultimately damages lung tissues and other organs, including the heart and can lead to fatal pulmonary embolism.
- Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot, known as a thrombus, within a blood vessel. It prevents blood from flowing normally through the circulatory system.
- Pulmonary Embolism (PE) is a condition in which one or more arteries in the lungs become blocked by a blood clot.
- The damage is caused by thrombosis in the small vessels that ultimately damages lung tissues and other organs, including the heart and can lead to fatal pulmonary embolism.