Everyone who has recovered from coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and lives in a city or region with high air pollution should get a flu shot, doctors recommend.
Air pollution is known to increase the susceptibility, hospitalizations and risk of death of Covid-19 patients, with doctors warning that it can also exacerbate the symptoms of “prolonged Covid-19,” which is a term used for describe Covid-19 symptoms that persist for weeks and months. after recovery.
Since one study found that 87% of 143 patients in a Rome hospital had at least one symptom almost two months after recovery, convalescent clinics have reported several recovered patients with symptoms of cough, fatigue, diarrhea, pain in the joints, muscle and lung pain, heart and kidney damage. Fatigue is the most common symptom, with more than half of the patents with “prolonged Covid” in the Rome study reporting chronic fatigue, according to JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Older people, women, people who are overweight and obese, asthmatics and those who have more than five symptoms of Covid-19 in the first week are at increased risk of “prolonged Covid,” according to a BBC News report, which cites unpublished research. at King’s College London to say that one in 20 people is ill for at least eight weeks.
Risk of contamination
There is more recent evidence that even people with very mild or no symptoms can also develop post-recovery symptoms that can last for several months, with winter cold and increased pollution making post-recovery symptoms worse.
“With increasing pollution, falling temperatures, and increased crowding during the festival season, all at risk and those with ‘prolonged Covid’ should get a flu shot to reduce the severity of subsequent symptoms. to recovery and also protect against influenza infection, “said Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.
About 76.8% of the Indian population in almost all states was exposed to annual population-weighted average PM2.5 above 40 μg / m3, which is the limit set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards , according to an Indian Council. of Medical Research (ICMR) published in The Lancet in 2018. Delhi, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana, had annual population-weighted mean PM2.5 values greater than 125 μg / m3, which are at least three times higher than the safe air limit.
It’s no wonder Manjiri Jain, 37, of Delhi, feels worse 63 days after recovering from Covid-19 than when he was diagnosed positive in early August.
“I had a very mild infection, no fever, just a little cough. I was relieved to have escaped the worst of Covid-19, but I was so, so wrong. The cough has persisted for more than two months and has gotten worse since air pollution increased. Now I feel short of breath and tired very quickly, and have a chronic, dull headache, “said Jain, who was told she had a” prolonged Covid “when her cough persisted for a week after recovery.
Jain continues to have regular online consultations with her doctor, but she is still concerned if her heart, lungs, or kidneys have been damaged.
“The more I read about ‘Long Covid,” the more I worry. I can’t go to a hospital for a medical checkup because I don’t want to risk getting reinfected, ”said Jain, who sought treatment for anxiety last week because she is losing sleep over her health.
Vaccination protection
“Hundreds of Covid-19 patients have been treated at Apollo hospitals and what we have found in extensive follow-ups is that patients who had pneumonia on chest X-ray, needed oxygen, or ventilated support have persistent symptoms beyond recovery, such as persistent cough, shortness of breath when walking, decreased exercise tolerance, and chronic fatigue. Older adults and people on oxygen support are at greatest risk, but it doesn’t just happen to people in the ICU. I recommend an annual flu vaccine to all recovered Covid-19 patients and a pneumococcal vaccine to protect against pneumonia for people before age 65 to protect them from chronic respiratory diseases when the weather turns cold and the level of contamination peaks, ”said Dr. Rajesh Chawla, a senior pulmonologist and intensive care specialist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Delhi, where he has been treating Covid-19 patients since the hospital established isolation wards on March 26. .
A study published in the journal Environmental Research in August found that flu vaccination can moderate the detrimental effects of ambient air pollution on children’s lung function, and doctors believe it will also benefit people with “prolonged Covid “.
“It is a new disease, we still don’t know enough. Therefore, it is best for people who have ‘long-term Covid’ and those who are at risk of getting vaccinated against influenza in the winter months, when the infection is likely to increase, and to be in constant contact with doctors ”, Dr. Chawla said.
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