Millions of people, including children and pregnant women, have long-term illness from coronavirus, study finds

CNN
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Millions of people are dealing with coronavirus–19 symptoms appear long after the initial infection. Two new studies, one in pregnant women and one in children, provide a closer look at the burden of this health problem that is often overlooked by doctors.

Initial studies say one in 10 people infected with coronavirus during pregnancy will develop long-term symptoms. The results were shared Monday at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland.

The researchers used data from. National Institutes of Health Recovery Initiative, a project created to determine the long-term effects of Covid on adults and children. Of the 1,503 pregnant women in the dataset, 9.3% reported experiencing symptoms more than 6 months after infection. The most common symptom was a feeling of fatigue after light physical or mental activity. Some people complained of dizziness.

The proportion of pregnant women with long-term COVID-19 infection is on the lower side compared to the general U.S. population. According to a study.Estimate Adult People infected with the new coronavirus infection over long distances From 2.5% However, the definition of Covid “period” varies between studies. The study doesn't explain why the numbers differ, but co-author Tori Metz, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Associate Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research, Utah Health University; I have some ideas.

“It could be because they have fewer baseline medical comorbidities overall. They're younger. It's also possible that they have a different immune response,” Metz said. said.

A pregnant person's immune system is generally more tolerant to “things that shouldn't be there,” so the mother's body can accept and nurture a fetus with different genes, she said. .

Pregnant people often have worse symptoms when infected with a virus because their immune systems don't have the strong response it normally would. This may mean that your pregnant body reduces inflammation, which is your immune system's natural response to infection. Other research Associated with long-term inflammation after COVID-19 infection effects on the brain And it can damage your lungs and kidneys.

“So there may be less damage to surrounding organs and more complex downstream effects,” Metz says.

Pregnant women with long-term COVID-19 infections also had some common factors. People who were obese, those who had been diagnosed with chronic anxiety or depression, and those who required supplemental oxygen when sick were at higher risk of long-term illness from COVID-19.

It didn't seem to matter which semester someone contracted the coronavirus, and whether they had been vaccinated was not a statistically significant factor. More than half of those who had been infected with the new coronavirus for a long time had completed vaccination. However, many studies have shown that vaccination reduces the risk of infection. Severe illness increases the likelihood of prolonged COVID-19 infection.

Metz said the study found that socio-economic factors influence the number of coronavirus cases over time.

“It is alarming that the proportion of patients reporting difficulty paying their bills is so high,” she says. “This raises red flags about what kind of access people have to the care they need.”

The study paints a clearer picture of who is likely to be infected with long-term coronavirus, said Dr. , said Dr. Amy Edwards, who manages the hospital's long-term coronavirus clinic.

“It is well known that chronic stress disrupts the immune system. Stress particularly tends to stimulate maladaptive inflammatory responses, and the association with chronic stress is well known.” said Edwards, who was not involved in the new study.

If a person who was infected with the new coronavirus during pregnancy continues to feel tired 8 weeks after birth, know that this is not normal fatigue associated with newborns, but may be due to a long-term infection with the new coronavirus. He said this could be helpful for doctors.

The researchers say an important next step, which is already underway, is to examine outcomes in infants of pregnant women who develop coronavirus over a long period of time.

another new the studyThe paper, published last week in the journal Pediatrics, looked at a variety of studies on children. Six million people have developed long-term coronavirus infections.

The study found that most young people with long-term coronavirus infections eventually recovered, but one-third still had symptoms a year after their initial infection.

Symptoms of long-term coronavirus infection in children included breathing problems such as coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness, and fatigue.

Mr Edwards said it was important not to discount the long-term effects of coronavirus on children, just because symptoms often disappear.

“Imagine losing two years of formative experiences as a teenager due to lingering COVID-19. You don’t even want to think about how that will affect you long-term.” she said.

The study also showed that children are at increased risk of developing some autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, after being infected with coronavirus, even if the disease is mild or asymptomatic. A US study The authors' review found a 72% increased risk of developing diabetes within six months of the initial infection.

Research doesn't fully explain what children with long-term coronavirus infections have in common. A new study shows that people who are housing, food insecure, and generally have less access to health care have “worse disease due to weakened immune systems.”

Edwards said she and other doctors who run long-hour COVID-19 pediatric clinics across the country have recently noticed that the serious influx of patients they saw early in the pandemic has slowed. “This is great,” he said.

But she said there are still too many young people getting sick with COVID-19 and fewer cases means shorter waiting lists. She says patients who used to wait eight months to get into her clinic are now waiting about five months.