Do You Know the Long Term Effects of COVID?

Implications of Long COVID

The death poll reported for the COVID-19 pandemic has exceeded 5 million out of the more than 240 million that have been infected.

Most COVID patients that have recovered from the disease have resumed their normal life, but a large proportion of the previously affected are ailing with long term effects of the disease. Although COVID is primarily a respiratory disease, it can also have an impact on other organs like the heart and the brain. Some of the observed deterioration of the function of solid organs (lung, kidneys, gut, heart, brain, liver) seem to be related directly or indirectly to the formation of blood clots, which are triggered by the disease.

Can Patients Who Are Already Recovered Come Down With Syndromes?

 In hospitals the group of patients with these long-COVID symptoms is growing and even those who were considered as “fully recovered” may come down with some form of this syndrome. The list of potential long-term effects is long and includes mild effects like dizziness, cough, or fatigue as well as more serious impairments of health like joint and chest pain or mental health problems to name a few.

COVID-19 patients will need a close monitoring for the potential long-term effects, which will include an increased number of diagnostics. The primary target organ of the SARS virus is the lung of the infected patients. The lung needs careful evaluation with so called pulmonary function test. To understand their lung status patients will exhale into and inhale from a diagnostic apparatus (e.g., A spirometer or a body plethysmograph).

Pall has developed and sells the Pro-Tec PF30 filter specifically for pulmonary function testing. It combines a high filtration efficiency for droplets that can be potentially loaded with micro-organisms from the patients’ breath. But at the same time it has a very low flow resistance and small dead space. It therefore gives a high degree of protection against cross contamination without impairing the diagnostic procedure.

You can learn more about the PF30 here.