User:Mcollins4/Symptoms of COVID-19

Longer-term effects[edit]
Main article: Long COVID

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children[edit]
Main article: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

Following the infection, children may develop the multisystem inflammatory syndrome, also called pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome. This has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can possibly be fatal.

Long COVID[edit]
Longer-term effects of COVID-19 have become a prevalent aspect of the disease itself. These symptoms can be referred to as many different names including post-COVID-19 syndrome, long COVID, and long haulers syndrome. An overall definition of post-COVID conditions (PCC) can be described as a range of symptoms that can last for weeks or months. Long COVID can be present in anyone who has contracted COVID-19 at some point; typically, it is more commonly found in those who had severe illness due to the virus.

Long COVID can attack a multitude of organs such as the lungs, heart, blood vessels, kidneys, gut, and brain. Some common symptoms that occur as a result are fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, chest pains, brain fog, gastrointestinal issues, insomnia, anxiety/depression, and delirium. A difference between acute COVID-19 and PCC is the effect that it has on a person's mind. People are found to be dealing with brain fog and impaired memory which has a large impact on their everyday lives. A study that took a deeper look into these specific symptoms took 50 SARS-CoV-2 laboratory-positive patients and 50 SARS-CoV-2 laboratory-negative patients to analyze the variety of neurologic symptoms present during long COVID. The most frequent symptoms included brain fog, headache, numbness, dysgeusia (loss of taste), anosmia (loss of smell), and myalgias (muscle pains) with an overall decrease in quality of life.

There is a potential for a decrease in cognitive functions such as learning ability and long-term memory.

This section is an excerpt from COVID-19 § Longer-term effects.[edit]

Some early studies suggest that 10–20% of people with COVID‑19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to the hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5–10% of patients admitted to the hospital progress to severe or critical diseases including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.

By a variety of mechanisms, the lungs are the organs most affected by COVID‑19. In people requiring hospital admission, up to 98% of CT scans performed show lung abnormalities after 28 days of illness even if they had clinically improved.

People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long-lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one-third of those investigated after four weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in asymptomatic people, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time. After severe disease, lung function can take anywhere from three months to a year or more to return to previous levels. The risks of cognitive deficit, dementia, psychotic disorders, and epilepsy or seizures persisted an increased level two years after infection.

Treatment for long COVID needs to take on a biopsychosocial approach because of the range of factors that impact how the symptoms present themselves. Rehabilitation should also be considered. Breathing and mobilization exercises as well as a psychological intervention have been seen to improve lung function and physical capacity.