How COVID Connects to Other Health | Health

Major new study A team led by a team of researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted three new conditions that could appear 1-5 months after a positive COVID-19 test.

Researchers followed 338,024 people under the age of 20 and another 1,790,886 people over the age of 20 to test for COVID-19. The team monitored them for new conditions for 150 days after the test was performed, regardless of the test results. New signs or symptoms recorded 18 months to 7 days before the study, but recorded 150 days thereafter, were considered a new diagnosis.

The team found that some of the cohorts they followed that were tested positive for COVID-19 were hospitalized due to the severity of their symptoms, while others could be managed at home.

They found that new diagnoses of shortness of breath, abnormal heart rate, and type 2 diabetes were more common in people who were hospitalized with a positive COVID-19 than those who were totally negative. ..

Moreover, the differences are less pronounced, even though these conditions were found to be more common among those who tested positive but not hospitalized compared to those who tested negative. It wasn’t.

Among the younger age group, people who were positive for COVID-19, regardless of hospitalization, were more common in anxiety and depression than those who were negative.

People who are positive on the test, have very severe symptoms, and require mechanical ventilation will experience nerve and muscle pain and sleep disorders even 5 months after the first positive test compared to the controlled group tested. You are more likely to suffer. Negative.

It is unknown to what extent COVID-19 causes these ongoing symptoms. Some theories refer to overstimulation of the immune system during the initial infection, which then becomes difficult to turn off. The immune system then begins to attack healthy body tissues such as the pancreas, heart, and lungs, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and shortness of breath.

The authors study this study of medical professionals and patients who monitor the development of new symptoms and conditions after the first month after SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially for individuals requiring hospitalization for acute COVID-19. He states that he emphasizes the need.

Need to worry about an increase in cases of bird flu?

Outbreaks of bird flu (AI), commonly known as bird flu, have been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health in Europe and Asia, raising concerns among experts.anytime bird influenza The virus circulates in poultry and is at risk of sporadic infections and small clusters of human cases due to exposure of people to infected poultry and contaminated environments. Therefore, sporadic human cases are not unexpected.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that affects several species of birds, including ducks, chickens, turkeys, quails, pet birds, and wild bird populations. Some strains of bird flu can infect humans, but this is very rare because they usually require very close contact with infected birds.

[Muaz Kory/Al Jazeera]

There are several different strains of circulating avian influenza, all with slightly different protein structures. The most common strain seen historically is the H5N1 strain, but there are five strains that have raised public health concerns in recent years. These include H7N9, H9N2, H5N6, H5N8, and one of the more common H5N1 strains in Asia.All of these strains are difficult to infect humans and usually do not spread from person to person, but some people are infected. Infected Since the first outbreak of bird flu in 1996, many deaths have occurred around the world.

In birds, the virus spreads through feces and respiratory secretions. Since it can survive for a long time on its natural surface, it can be spread from farm to farm with equipment. People in close contact with infected birds are at risk of developing bird flu if they touch infected birds, dung, bedding, or kill or prepare to cook infected poultry. There is no evidence that eating cooked poultry or eggs can spread the disease.

When a person is infected, it can take 3-5 days for the first symptoms to appear. These include:

• Very hot, hot or shivering
• muscle pain
• headache
• Cough or shortness of breath
• Stomach cramps
• conjunctivitis
• Bleeding from the nose and gums

It can also develop more serious complications, such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, which can be fatal. Prompt treatment and the use of antiviral drugs can prevent complications and reduce the risk of developing serious illness.

According to WHO, there were 863 cases Human infection Of these cases, 455 were fatal to the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus reported from 18 countries between January 2003 and January 20, 2022. It doesn’t seem like many cases over such a long period of time, but in 2021 alone, China reported 34 human cases of bird flu with the H5N6 strain of concern. H5N6 was first detected in people in 2014, and since then 67 cases have been detected. This is all but one in China. However, the percentage seems to be rising. Over half of human infectious diseases have been reported in the last 6 months.

China is one of the largest poultry producers in the world and the top producer of ducks that act as a reservoir for influenza virus. Also, even if poultry is vaccinated against bird flu, the vaccine provides only partial protection because it does not cover all strains.

Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading, said last month that an increase in H5N6 “may make a difference.” [the virus] More susceptible to people. “But he emphasized that he hasn’t seen anything yet evidence From person to person.

In February 2021, it was first discovered that H5N8 had infected a small number of people in Russia. The cluster involves seven people working in poultry farms, all believed to have been sick from birds.

In the UK, a surge in H5N1 was seen last year, killing at least 500,000 birds. In January 2022, the first case of human H5N1 in the United Kingdom was detected in a 79-year-old man who had a duck at his home in Devon.

There are cluster outbreaks around the world, but we’re still far from having to worry too much. But we need to be vigilant. The fact that some strains of the virus circulate in bird populations makes monitoring difficult, but if two strains combine their mutations, they may support the genetic evolution of the virus.

As with any other disease that has become established in the animal world and can spread to humans, we need to reconsider the treatment of animals. Large-scale global poultry production often contributes to the poor living conditions of birds, where the disease can easily spread, resulting in increased risk to humans.

Bird flu, like other zoonotic viruses, can eventually mutate into something more infectious and dangerous to humans. To prevent this, it is necessary not only to treat the virus seriously, but also to treat poultry raised as livestock with dignity and respect.