Follow-up of COVID-19 recovered patients with mild disease
Alina Kashif, Manahil Chaudhry, Tehreem Fayyaz, Mohammad Abdullah, Ayesha Malik, Javairia Manal Akmal Anwer, Syed Hashim Ali Inam, Tehreem Fatima, Noreena Iqbal, Khadija Shoaib
Abstract
COVID-19 may manifest as mild, moderate or severe disease with each grade of severity having its own features and post-viral implications. With the rising burden of the pandemic, it is vital to identify not only active disease but any post-recovery complications as well. This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the presence of post-viral symptomatology in patients recovered from mild COVID-19 disease. Presence or absence of 11 post-viral symptoms was recorded and we found that 8 of the 11 studied symptoms were notably more prevalent amongst the female sample population. Our results validate the presence of prolonged symptoms months after recovery from mild COVID-19 disease, particularly in association with the female gender. Hence, proving the post-COVID syndrome is a recognizable diagnosis in the bigger context of the post-viral fatigue syndrome.