These health problems could be owing to the damage to the small vessels caused by COVID-19 that leads to excessive clotting during the course of the disease.
Many recovered COVID-19 patients are suffering from heart problems and lung diseases after beating the novel coronavirus infection.
After recovering from COVID-19, some of the patients come to doctors with reduced heart function and heart attack or even stroke, Dr Yatin Mehta, critical care specialist at Medanta Hospital, was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times report.
According to the report, these health problems could be owing to the damage to the small vessels caused by COVID-19 that leads to excessive clotting during the course of the disease.
COVID-19 disease is said to be attacking the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels, leading to clotting across the body of the patients, the report suggested.
Frequently Asked Questions
A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.
There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.
Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has been in the country for over five months, the healthcare experts need to start looking at post-COVID-19 rehabilitation, said Dr Suranjit Chatterjee who himself felt increased heart rate while walking soon after getting recovered from COVID-19. On testing, reports revealed that he had developed myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscles), the report said.
According to the doctor, recovered patients come back to hospitals with symptoms such as lethargy, body aches and itchy throats even four to six weeks later. Some people even get heart attacks or strokes after recovery, said the doctor, adding that a scientific link on COVID-19 causing it is yet to be established.
Now, the doctors need to look out for neurological symptoms such as the Guillain-barre syndrome wherein the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, leading to weakness and tingling in the extremities, Dr Chatterjee told the publication.
Some recovered patients are also coming back to hospitals with complaints of lung diseases – from fibrosis (formation of hard fibrous tissues as the lung heals from an injury) to secondary infections and pneumonia, said the report citing Dr Sandeep Jain, head of the department of emergency medicine at Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi.Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here.