A large study published Friday showed that among people infected with Covid-19, one in eight retains one of the symptoms associated with the disease in the long term. Among these symptoms, according to the study published in the Lancet, are “abdominal pain, difficulty and pain in breathing, muscle aches, loss of taste or smell, tingling, discomfort in the throat, hot or cold flashes, heaviness in the arms or legs, and general fatigue.” also". The authors concluded that "in 12.7 percent of patients, these symptoms can be attributed to COVID-19", three to five months after infection. This study, which was conducted in the Netherlands, thanks to its scope and methodology, is an important addition to better understand the risks of protracted COVID-19, which is the persistence of persistent symptoms after infection with the virus. Currently, some patients are known to have certain protracted symptoms that cannot be explained solely as psychosomatic disorders, as some physicians initially suggested. But the extent of its prevalence and most importantly its pathophysiological course are largely unknown. While the Lancet study did not answer the second question, it does better explain the first prong, first because it included more than 4,000 people with Covid. An important development is that the responses of these patients were compared with those of people who did not have Covid. Because it is possible to feel one of the symptoms mentioned without Covid being the cause. In fact, about 9% of those without COVID had any of the symptoms described above. The percentage among those previously infected with Covid increases to 21.4%. By subtracting the two percentages, the researchers were able to conclude that just over 12% of people who contracted Covid had prolonged symptoms specifically related to the disease. However, this study is not without flaws, such as not measuring the prevalence of other symptoms associated with prolonged Covid-19, including in particular a case of depression or mental confusion

AFP