EC Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine

Background: The struggle against COVID-19 does not halt with diagnosing and treating acute disease. Survivors of COVID-19 experience unfamiliar medium and long-term health consequences known as Post COVID-19 syndrome whose management remains a clinical challenge, as there are no evidence-based international guidelines to follow at the time of writing.

Objective: To determine the incidence of symptoms, demographic associations, and risk factors for the occurrence of the post-COVID-19 syndrome in a cohort in the period from January 2021 to December 2021.

Methods: an observational cross-sectional study on Egyptian subjects post infection with coronavirus (SARS-CoV 2) from different geographical areas in Egypt who replied to an online survey about post-COVID syndrome.

Results: 418 Egyptian subjects included in the study from 5 Egyptian governorates, divided into group 1 (222) subjects who had post-COVID syndrome (PCS), and group 2 included 196 subjects who did not. The mean age was 37.45 ± 10.19 years. Post-viral fatigue was the most prevalent feature (139 (62.6%)) Psychological problems as depression and anxiety (14 (6.3%)) and exertional dyspnea (119 (53.6%)), while symptoms contribute to less than 2%, are anosmia, ageusia and skin rash. The mean duration of PCS symptoms was 6.16 ± 1.03 weeks. being less severe in subjects treated at home and worse in those treated in ICU.

Conclusion: We should consider prioritizing follow-up care for post-COVID infected subjects who develop the highest-burden of ongoing overlapping symptoms of post severe COVID-19 syndrome.

Keywords: SARS-COV2; Post-COVID Syndrome; Post-Viral Symptoms; COVID-19; Long COVID

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