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| A medical staffer conducts COVID-19 test at a temporary testing center near Seoul Station, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Some COVID-19 survivors here are suffering from long-term health effects even after they test negative, as not all symptoms of the illness seem to disappear entirely for every patient, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The health authorities announced the interim results, Tuesday, of research on the aftereffects of the coronavirus carried out on 1,050 former patients.
The National Medical Center (NMC) conducted medical examinations and surveys of 40 former patients who had been hospitalized there, while Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu conducted an online survey of 965 people in the area who were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus.
The most common lingering effect of COVID-19 was fatigue, reported by 43 percent of the former patients, followed by shortness of breath during exercise (35 percent), and hair loss (23 percent), when multiple answers were allowed.
Other reported aftereffects included chest tightness (15 percent), headache (10 percent), memory loss (8 percent) and anosmia (5 percent).
In addition to the physical symptoms, some virus survivors were experiencing mental aftereffects such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The research revealed that the aftereffects differed among patients depending on their age and the severity of the COVID-19 infections they had suffered.
Younger people and those who had mild symptoms mainly experienced fatigue and sleep disorders, while breathing difficulty was more common among older survivors as well as those who had a severe infection.
CT scans showed that seven out of the 40 former patients at the NMC were suffering from pulmonary fibrosis ― a lung disease which occurs when the organ's tissue is damaged and scarred. The seven people were all above the age 40, and categorized as high-risk patients.
"Although the research does not include all coronavirus survivors in the country, it has confirmed that aftereffects may occur regardless of the patient's age," Kwon Jun-wook, a senior health official, said during a briefing. He added that the health ministry will continue to analyze the aftereffects and come up with relevant measures.
Kwon also warned that the country should remain vigilant despite the fewer daily new cases, as infection clusters linked to certain unauthorized missionary schools are still emerging.
As of Wednesday, 146 confirmed cases were reported in two branches of TCS Ace International School located in Gwangju. The school is an unauthorized religious education center run by the missionary group IM.
The country's daily new cases for Tuesday bounced back to over 500, after 10 days, due mainly to the large-scale outbreaks linked to the missionary schools. According to the KDCA, there were 559 new cases, including 516 local transmissions, raising the accumulated total to 76,429.
