PETALING JAYA: If you continue to experience Covid-19-like symptoms up to three weeks after the primary infection, don’t take any chances but seek medical advice, say health experts.
Public health medicine specialist Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh said Covid-19 infections can cause multiple body organs to react against the virus, with the resulting inflammation possibly taking a longer time to recover.
She said some inflammation may also not heal at all.
“It may also further exaggerate comorbidities. As a precaution, seek medical advice.
“Since many conditions may mimic long Covid, there is also the need to exclude other diagnoses concurrently,” she said.
Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat, however, said it can be difficult to ascertain whether a person’s condition is due to long-term Covid or other causes.
“The benefit of the doubt always lies with the doctor in charge of the patient,” she said.
She was asked to comment on long-term Covid, which was finally defined after health practitioners worldwide spent years in the aftermath of the pandemic uncovering its traits by studying patients afflicted by the condition.
According to a recently released Washington-based National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (Nasem) report, long Covid is an infection-associated chronic condition that occurs after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The infection is present for at least three months, either continuously, relapses and remits, or progresses and affects one or more organ systems.
Long Covid manifests in multiple ways, Nasem said, adding that any organ in the system could be involved.
This could include single or multiple symptoms, such as shortness of breath, cough, persistent fatigue, post-exertional malaise, difficulty concentrating, memory changes, recurring headache, lightheadedness, fast heart rate, sleep disturbance, problems with taste or smell, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea.
Single or multiple diagnosable conditions are also possible, according to the report.
Datuk Dr Balwant Singh Gendeh, a fellow at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, advised those who continue experiencing Covid-like symptoms at least three weeks after first contracting the virus to seek medical advice.
“This is especially for those who have underlying conditions like systemic diseases like heart issues, diabetes or are immunocompromised.
“In severe cases, there is the potential for more fatal outcomes,” he said, adding that long-term Covid may possibly impair blood-clotting mechanisms as well.
To obtain an accurate diagnosis of a person’s condition following recovery from the primary Covid-19 infection, Dr Balwant said general physicians will usually run several medical tests.
“Only when other factors are ruled out that long Covid can be determined by a diagnosis of exclusion,” said Dr Balwant, who is the Association of Specialists in Private Medical Practice of Malaysia president.
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