A doctor from Baylor’s College of Medicine warned about the crippling long-term health consequences of the COVID-19 disease, citing that the effects remain unknown.
It seems like the battle against the COVID-19 disease is not short-lived.
Recently, a doctor from the College of Medicine at Baylor University warned about the “debilitating long-term effects” of the disease. The problem is that, given that SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus, medical professionals are still yet to unfold the possible implications the infection could cause.
Coronavirus may “haunt us for generation”
In his interview with CNBC’s Power Lunch, Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor University said that the world still needs to address the crippling long-term impact of the COVID-19 disease on the human body.
“The effects of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) are going to haunt us for a generation, I am afraid. […] We are starting now to hear about permanent injury to the lungs, to the heart, the vascular system, permanent neurologic injury because of this virus,” Hotez told CNBC.
According to him, it is quite troublesome that there are health consequences and conditions that medical experts do not know yet—despite the fact that scientists have a better grasp of how to treat the current infection now.
Dr. Hotez also highlighted the sudden spike of new coronavirus cases across Texas and called it “scary.” He said that although the hospital capacity in the said state can still accommodate patients, the problem is that Texas is “seeing a very steep rise in community transmission across its metro areas.”
Organizations to study its long-term effects
In the U.K., people who were infected but survived reported recurring symptoms even after the 14 days doctors believed to be the timeframe of recovery.
Helen Calder, a COVID-19 survivor from Liverpool, for instance, shared her experience as something that is weird. She said the whole months of April and May were an “absolute wipeout” for her.
“It is the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. […] Everybody was saying it was 14 days, and I did not get better. By week six, I was panicked,” Calder told BBC.
Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said that the organization has started to study the possible recurring health effects of SARS-CoV-2. Based on the article, it will examine a total of 3, 300 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the U.S.
Four Scottish universities are set to start the same study as well. Lead by the National Institute of for Health Research Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, the research is said to examine nearly 10, 000 patients.
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