How big is the late impact of infection with the new crown

 　　Scientists have found that some people may still have a relatively high inflammatory response in the body eight months after being infected with the new crown. However, the new coronavirus is still spreading and mutating, and it remains to be seen what impact the mutated strains such as Omicron will have on the sequelae of the new crown.

　　Avoiding severe illness and death may not be the whole problem for people with Covid-19. For some people, even after the virus is cleared from the body, there may still be some persistent symptoms, which is called the new crown sequelae or long-term new coronary pneumonia. Scientists noticed the problem shortly after the pandemic began, and were concerned about the magnitude of the problem.

　　Since December 2021, after the Omicron variant spread globally, the number of people diagnosed with the new crown around the world has exceeded 350 million by January 2022. Considering that Omicron causes mild and asymptomatic proportions may be higher. High, coupled with differences in testing policies and capabilities across regions, the actual number of people who have been infected with the new crown is likely to be higher. As more and more people have the experience of contracting the new crown, the importance of the subsequent impact of infection on personal health is also highlighted.

　　Recently, some scientists' laboratory studies of people infected with the new coronavirus found that some people may still have a relatively high inflammatory response in the body eight months after being infected with the new crown. This provides new evidence for understanding long-term health effects such as COVID-19 sequelae.

　　Innate immune cells are highly active. Researchers

　　from the University of New South Wales in Australia compared the differences in the immune systems of people with new crown sequelae and those who were infected but did not have sequelae, and found that those who still had symptoms three or four months after infection Innate immune cells are highly active and exhibit a sustained immune response. The immune profile of COVID-19 patients is also unique compared to people infected with other coronaviruses and healthy people.

　　More importantly, this characteristic of the immune system of patients with sequelae of the new crown is not due to the serious condition of the previous infection. On the contrary, these infected people included in the analysis only had mild and moderate symptoms. The study was published in Nature Immunology in January 2022.

　　Cases with long-term COVID-19 sequelae are those who still have one or more symptoms four months after infection, such as difficulty breathing, fatigue, chest pain, etc. The latest study included a total of 62 people infected with the new crown, half of whom had sequelae. The researchers collected serum samples for laboratory analysis about three, four and eight months after their infection. The results show that the difference between the two types of infected people is persistent and significant. The immune system is originally activated by the human body in response to the attack of the virus. For people with the sequelae of the new crown, when the virus in their bodies has been cleared, the immune system Still active, these continuing findings of abnormal immune markers actually provide some physiological evidence for the existence of COVID-19 sequelae.

　　Although the mechanism behind this is still unclear, the researchers estimate that it may be because the antigen persists after the virus is cleared, or it may be due to autoimmunity, which causes the immune system to attack its own tissue instead, or it is damage repair a manifestation of the process.

　　In the future, laboratory studies for a longer period of time are still needed to observe the changes in these immune responses and to explore the relevant mechanisms in more depth. In addition, other physiological evidence is also needed to prove and explain the phenomenon of new crown sequelae. You must know that before this, there are not one or two types of new crown sequelae that have been found in clinical cases, but at least 50 types.

　　The types of sequelae have been increasing.

　　As early as the beginning of 2020, when the new crown epidemic began, researchers at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital began to track and observe the health of discharged infected patients. At that time, there were neither widely available approved vaccines nor specific drugs. In an ongoing analysis of the follow-up physical conditions of nearly 2,000 infected people who were discharged from hospital between January and May 2020, researchers found that 76 percent of those infected still had at least one symptom at 6 months of onset. Usually, patients with new coronary pneumonia can be cured and discharged in 2 to 6 weeks.

　　Among these early COVID-19 sequelae patients, fatigue or muscle weakness was the most common, accounting for 63%, and sleep difficulties were also high, accounting for 26%. In addition to this, 23% reported conditions such as anxiety or depression. Abnormal chest imaging and impaired lung function were also more common in people who were more severely ill early in the infection. These findings, published in The Lancet in January 2021, represent what scientists knew about the aftermath of COVID-19 early in the pandemic.

　　A comprehensive analysis of relevant data before 2021 by researchers from Harvard University and other institutions found that more than 50 sequelae of the new crown were identified in the sample size of nearly 50,000 infected people. In addition to fatigue and dyspnea, the most common are headaches, attention disorders, hair loss, etc., involving nerve, cardiovascular, lung and other fields.

　　Moreover, as clinical observational evidence accumulates, more cases of COVID-19 sequelae have been discovered around the world. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics in January 2022 used a self-reported sample of nearly 350,000 people to demonstrate that fatigue, dyspnea, and attention disorders are some of the most common COVID-19 sequelae. In addition, 37% reported losing their sense of smell. However, it is still unknown how many people have the sequelae of the new crown, and how many types of these symptoms there are. In addition to identifying several major sequelae, scientists have found that some people are relatively more prone to sequelae.

　　Late-stage treatment needs remain

　　The most common risk factors are older age, severe COVID-19 disease, and previous underlying medical conditions.

　　A comparative study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 2021 has specifically explored what kind of people are more likely to have new crown sequelae. Among the nearly 190,000 infected people, a total of about 27,000 people have at least one new crown sequelae, Accounted for 14% of the total sample, these people were between the ages of 18 and 65.

　　The analysis shows that people over 50 years old, people who have been hospitalized for new crown infection before, and people with underlying diseases are at greater risk of developing sequelae after infection with new crown, but even without these conditions, compared with other viral infections. People with respiratory diseases and people infected with the new crown also have a higher risk of sequelae, as well as some special sequelae that other viral diseases are unlikely to leave behind, such as high blood coagulation state, arrhythmia, diabetes, myocarditis, liver abnormalities, etc. .

　　These clinical findings imply that some patients with Covid-19 may still require additional medical services after discharge, and these longer-standing chronic diseases involve different areas, showing the uniqueness of the disease.

　　In October 2021, the World Health Organization, based on previous expert opinions, has called the symptoms that persist three months after the onset of the disease without other causes as the sequelae of the new crown, providing certain clinical guidance for the global response to the disease. The latest laboratory analysis of the immune system of patients with sequelae of the new crown by Australian researchers has rarely explored the long-term impact of the new crown on people from the perspective of immune indicators, providing some inspiration for improving related treatment and nursing services.

　　However, the new coronavirus is still spreading and mutating, and it remains to be seen what impact the mutated strains such as Omicron will have on the sequelae of the new crown. Preliminary results so far are that severe pneumonia after infection with Omicron is relatively rare, and the risk of sequelae is reduced.