ABSTRACT
BackgroundLong COVID, or post-COVID-19 sequelae, is being seen in a growing number of patients reporting a constellation of symptoms, both pulmonary and extrapulmonary. Studies on COVID-19 recovered patients are scarce. Thus, there is a need to add granularity to our existing knowledge about the course and long-term effects of the infection. AimTo describe the clinical details and risk factors of post-COVID sequelae in the North Indian population. MethodThis prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary healthcare centre in Northern India between October 2020 to February 2021. Patients aged >18 years with a confirmed COVID-19 disease were recruited after at least two weeks of diagnosis and interviewed for any post-COVID-19 symptoms. ResultsOf 1234 patients recruited, who were followed up for a median duration of 91 days (IQR: 45-181 days), 495 (40.11%) patients had symptoms. In 223 (18.1%) patients, the symptoms resolved within four weeks, 150 (12.1%) patients had symptoms till twelve weeks, and 122 (9.9%) patients had symptoms beyond twelve weeks of diagnosis of COVID-19. Most common long COVID-19 symptoms included myalgia (10.9%), fatigue (5.5%), shortness of breath (6.1%), cough (2.1%), disturbed sleep (1.4%), mood disturbances (0.48%) and anxiety (0.6%). The major determinants of developing post-COVID-19 symptoms in the patients were hypothyroidism and the severity of the disease. ConclusionMost often, patients complain of myalgias, fatigue, dyspnoea, cough and disturbed sleep. Patients who are hypothyroid or have recovered from moderate to severe COVID-19 are at higher risk of developing post-COVID sequelae. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is required to diagnose and manage COVID-19 recovered patients.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundSeroprevalence helps us to estimate the exact prevalence of a disease in a population. Although the world has been battling this pandemic for more than a year now, we still do not know about the burden of this disease in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). Seroprevalence data in this population subset is scarce in most parts of the world, including India. The current study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody among PLHA. AimTo determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in PLHA. MethodThis was a cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in North India. We recruited HIV positive patients following at the ART centre of the institute. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels targeting recombinant spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein of SARS CoV-2 were estimated in serum sample by the chemiluminescent immunoassay method. ResultsA total of 164 patients were recruited in the study with a mean age ({+/-}SD) of 41.2 ({+/-}15.4) years, of which 55% were male. Positive serology against SARS CoV-2 was detected in 14% patients (95% CI: 9.1-20.3%). ConclusionThe seroprevalence of COVID-19 infection in PLHA was lower than the general population in the same region, which ranged from 23.48% to 28.3% around the study period.
