POST-COVID COMPLICATIONS IN PATIENTS ADMITTED TO A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN NORTHERN INDIA: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

ABSTRACT

Background CORONAVIRUS disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral infectious disease caused by the single-stranded, enveloped RNA virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS COV-2). Though Covid-19 is an acute viral infection predominantly affecting the respiratory system, it has short-term, long-term metabolism and endocrine complications. Being a global pandemic with a high rate of recovery, it is expected to have many long-term metabolic complications in a vast number of covid-19 survivors. We aimed to find out the post covid complications in patients discha Objective: rged from SARI ward AIIMS Bathinda, Punjab. Design: Settings Prospective observational study OPD and telemedicine consultation of the patients admitted to the tertiary hospital Material and Methods: - A prospective study was done on 244 patients with COVID -19 RAT, and RTPCR Positive patients were done. Patients were followed up in OPD and by telemedicine for post covid complications. Main outcome measures: The main outcome measures were measured in terms of mortality as well as morbidity. Morbidity was evaluated in terms of the complications developing after covid or persistence of the complications developed during the covid. All the patients who were admitted Sample size to our tertiary Centre were followed for post covid complications. Result: - Out of 244 patients that were analyzed, 22% died during the disease, and 78% survived. Out of the patient who survived 64.8% developed post covid complications. 35.8% complained of fatigue, 10.5% developed headache, 8.9% developed body aches, 3.2% had a persistent cough, 1.6% had a sore throat and 1.1% had gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusion: - In this population-based study large no. of patients suffer from long-term residual effects afterward-CoV-2 infection such as fatigue, cough, headache, dyspnea, and decline in quality of the eye. With a large range majority of people infected all over the world, our findings emphasize the need for timely planning of resources and patient care. Multidisciplinary collaboration is essential to provide integrated outpatient care for the survival of acute COVID-19. Limitation: Small sample size