Tested Covid negative, but complications make them suffer

It has been 17 months since Meenakshi Rani Das, a senior staff nurse at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, tested negative for Covid-19, but she is still left struggling with several medical conditions.

On 31 March last year, she was discharged from Kuwait-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital eight days after receiving treatment there. Meenakshi returned to work, but she has not yet fully recovered.

The health worker now feels difficulty while speaking because of cysts in her vocal cord.

"I am still suffering…and feel pain when I talk for a long time. I also become tired even after working for a short time. I cannot sleep well at night too," Meenakshi told The Business Standard.

Like her, many people are facing long-term consequences of a Covid infection, such as, shortness of breath, lasting fatigue, persistent pain, insomnia, diabetes, and heart problems.

The "long-Covid" is putting a debilitating impact on them with many becoming exhausted even after a short walk.

Physicians now suggest giving importance to post-Covid complications. People with mild infections also suffer from lasting health problems.

Journalist Mahmud Komol, 33, who had mild Covid symptoms, has now developed diabetes after testing negative on 27 June 2020.

"I had gone through a diabetes test a month before I tested positive for Covid-19 and everything was alright then. But, after recovering from the virus, I was diagnosed with diabetes," he told TBS.

Mahmud now has to take medicines regularly. Diabetes goes out of control if medicines are missed in a day or two.

On April 1 this year, an official of an international health research organisation caught coronavirus, but he had no problem except for a loss of smell. It took two weeks for him to get his smell back after he had tested negative. 

But in May, he suddenly felt pressure in his chest. When he went to a doctor in July with chest pain, he underwent various tests, including ECG, Echo, and was diagnosed with increased palpitations and mitral valve regurgitation. But the ECG test done three months before he tested Covid positive showed all normal.

"The doctor told me I am suffering from post-Covid complications. I now take medicines regularly, otherwise, I feel discomfort. Also, my cholesterol level increased after Covid-19 infection," the 43-year-old said. 

Dr Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury, assistant professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), told TBS that patients with mild symptoms have less post-covid complications but critical ones who are hospitalised or need a lot of oxygen support are more likely to suffer from post-Covid complications. 

After recovering from Covid, patients are struggling with various medical conditions, including diabetes, lung problems, sleep disturbance, thyroid, memory loss etc.

Some 15-20 patients on an average with post-Covid complications come to the post-Covid clinic every Saturday and Tuesday at the BSMMU. 

Dr Fazle Rabbi said the patients who required hospitalisation should follow up with doctors for six months-two years after they have tested negative. It is not yet certain how long post-Covid complications will last.

A multi-centre, cross-sectional study on coronavirus disease 2019 in Bangladesh said the most prevalent post-recovery complications that were reported included sleep disturbance (32%), pains and aches (31.8%), weakened attention span (24.4%), anxiety and depression (23.1%), memory loss (19.5%), and complications with mobility (17.7%).

Between 1 April and 30 June 2020, the study was conducted on 1,021 Covid negative patients who took treatment at six Covid-dedicated hospitals in the country. 

Dhaka Medical College Hospital has launched its "Post Covid Clinic". Doctors treat 20 patients on an average every Sunday and Wednesday from 10 am-1 pm, said Dr Forhad Uddin Hasan Chowdhury, registrar at the Department of Medicine, Dhaka Medical College.

Dr Forhad, said, "People come to our post-Covid clinic with a variety of problems, including weakness, fatigue, apathy, various types of pain, weight loss and hair loss. Lung infections are more common in patients with severe Covid-19 recoveries."

Post-covid patients are given medication and counselling, he also said.

In Bangladesh, 1464,594 people have recovered from Covid-19 so far. There is no exact information on how many of them are suffering from post-covid complications. 

However, doctors say about 15% of patients who recover from Covid are suffering from various complications. They need to follow up with doctors regularly.