Sherene Magana Cruz, an elderly care worker, finds it difficult to speak about her experience more than a year after being hospitalised with COVID-19. She said that she likes her work, organising events for the residents. It might include dancing, games, exercise, bus tours, special events, and morning teas.
However, the once-robust 50-year-old is now unable to walk without assistance. She was on the verge of death. She had no clue COVID would lead to this. Her hips are continuously in discomfort, which prevents me from standing or walking for lengthy periods of time.
After contracting the illness from an elderly care resident, the mother of three was brought to the hospital in July 2020, struggling to breathe. She was placed in an induced coma and spent more than three weeks in a Melbourne critical care unit.
Physical and mental health issues
Mrs. Magana Cruz is one of more than 200 ICU patients from throughout Australia who has participated in a nationwide trial to investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on critically sick patients.
The Monash University research, which was published today in the international journal Critical Care, is the first in Australia to look at the long-term effects of COVID-19 in persons who were in critical care.
More than 70% of responders reported ongoing symptoms six months after being hospitalised with COVID-19. Shortness of breath was the most prevalent symptom, although others included weariness, headaches, weakness, and loss of taste or smell.
According to the study's principal author, Carol Hodgson of Monash University's School of Public Health, "a high percentage of individuals also mentioned reduced function and being unable to undertake their typical activities." She said that there here were continuing issues with their functioning. This may be physical function, such as the capacity to stand for lengthy periods of time or walk a kilometre.
There were issues with their psychological functioning, how their disease or cognitive impairments impacted them emotionally—for instance, the capacity to learn a new activity or to concentrate on a job.
Professor Hodgson said that the participants in the research were healthy before contracting COVID-19. She said that these individuals had an excellent quality of life with very few issues.
Our survivors are frustrated because they don't understand why they aren't recuperating as rapidly as they would want. Some of them may never be able to return to their prior level of function. The 'brain fog' and shortness of breath persist.
The current research adds to a growing body of knowledge on how COVID-19 may damage the body years after infection.
In October, the World Health Organisation released a clinical case description of protracted COVID in dubbed "Post COVID-19." According to the WHO, the illness "often starts three months after the beginning of COVID-19 with symptoms [that] continue at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis."
A recent UK research by Oxford University discovered that one in every three COVID-19 patients had lengthy COVID three to six months after infection. More than 2,300 individuals in Australia have spent time in critical care after contracting the illness.
Mrs. Magana Cruz's body is still tortured by the inflammation induced by COVID-19 more than a year after her infection. She said that her shoulders had healed significantly, yet the ache remains. It limits my ability to hold things. Her persistent problems include memory loss and shortness of breath, which she often experiences when walking.
Long-term expenses are 'possibly enormous.'
The latest Monash University study also backs up hundreds of other studies from across the globe that demonstrate extended COVID is "widespread and genuine," according to Murdoch University disease expert Jeremy Nicholson. He said that once an individual recovers from influenza, they heal almost entirely. However, COVID is not like this.
Many people think of [COVID] as only a respiratory condition, yet it affects almost every organ in the body.
Professor Nicholson, who was not engaged in the Monash University research, is the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) director in Perth, which examines illness causes and origins. His team discovered the virus might damage the body for months after infection by analysing hundreds of blood samples from patients who have had COVID-19. He said that very few patients, even after six months, have genuinely healed metabolically and functionally.
They may have stopped coughing weeks ago. However, they still have a lot of other problems. He said that ANPC's research had been conducted on persons who have not been hospitalised but yet have extended COVID.
That's far more concerning since millions of individuals have had moderate COVID symptoms but are nonetheless impacted. The long-term health economic costs of this might be enormous.
Long-term COVID services that are specialised are required
Mrs. Magana Cruz said that the long-term consequences of COVID-19 had drastically altered her life. She said that everything was moving a lot slower. What used to be a brief trip to the grocery to pick up a gift for a friend has turned into a two-hour or three-hour ordeal.
Professor Hodgson said that specialised health treatments were critical to the healing of long-term COVID patients like Mrs. Magana Cruz.
She said that at six months, if patients have continued physical handicap or poor functional physical function, they should be able to be sent to visit a physiotherapist and get continuous therapy. If they have an inadequate psychological function, they should see a psychologist, and if they have poor cognitive performance, providers should treat it with some type of cognitive therapy.
People with lengthy COVID, according to Professor Hodgson, also need additional assistance whilst transitioning from the hospital to their homes.
She added that perhaps they could manage that transition a bit better, make sure the patients are followed up on, that the GPs recognise how crucial it is to screen for physical, psychological, or cognitive problems and pass them on to experts for treatment. Mrs. Magana Cruz considers herself fortunate to have had frequent access to physiotherapy, massage, and psychological sessions. She is hoping that the continued expert care she is receiving will assist her in making a complete recovery.
She said that they're assisting her in regaining the normalcy that she wants to reclaim, the physical activities that she used to perform, the cheerful, effervescent spirit that she was. Her husband and children were also infected with COVID while in the hospital, but they recovered completely.
Mrs Magana Cruz attributes her biggest support to her family and religion.
