Some research findings has indicated that patients who recovered from COVID-19 may suffer possible permanent damage to their lungs.
Medical experts noted that such clients may be left with lung scarring known as pulmonary fibrosis.
The doctors who spoke with the BBC listed the symptoms of the disease which doesn’t have a cure yet, includes severe shortness of breath, coughing and fatigue.
The case of a COVID-19 survivor, Anthony McHugh, a retired taxi driver, who was discharged mid-April after he was treated, Yet still suffers breathing difficulties, was shared.
“It’s little things like walking up the stairs or watering the flowers outside. I start bending down and I have to stop,” he told the news outlet.
When an X-ray was conducted on McHugh’s lungs, about six weeks after he left the hospital, a thin white lines known as reticular shadowing, indicating the early signs of scarring or pulmonary fibrosis was seen.
He is billed to undergo another scan after 12 weeks to ascertain if the suspected scarring on his lungs has worsened.
The development, Sam Hare, an executive committee member of the British Society of Thoracic Imaging (BSTI), said is something to worry about.
Hare, who is also an advisor to the Royal College of Radiologists, however, added that there are no ample evidences yet to ascertain the extent and rate of lung damage caused by COVID-19
“With all these cases, we can’t say for certain at the moment,” he said.
“But usually with a virus or infection at six weeks, you would expect the scan to have returned to normal. It hasn’t and that’s the worry.”
A study conducted in China and published in March revealed 66 of 70 patients still had some level of lung damage after being discharged from hospital, BBC reports.
Several radiologists in the UK, who corroborated with the study, pointed out that about 30% of patients discharged of COVID-19 seem to show symptoms of lung scarring.
“In the six-week scans we’re seeing, so far I would say between 20% and 30% of patients who have been in hospital appear to show some early signs of lung scarring,” Hare added
source https://www.naijanews.com/2020/06/23/covid-19-survivors-may-suffer-permanent-damages-to-their-lungs-medical-experts/
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