BOLZANO. Dyspnoea, fatigue, loss of taste, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances or depressed mood – these are just a few complaints that may persist for months after an illness. Covid-19. Now says an important study carried out by an interdisciplinary team of doctors in South Tyrol and Tyrol which has detected and analyzed through an online survey the complex and long-term symptoms of people who have contracted a Sars-CoV-2 infection, who however do not have been hospitalized.
The goal of the “State of health after Covid-19″ study was to better characterize the clinical picture of Long Covid. The specialist journal Clinical Infectious Diseases has published the first results. Judith Löffler-Ragg from the Innsbruc University Clinick, Internal Medicine II, directs the research project together with the director of the University Clinic Günter Weiss, Raimund Helbok of the Department of Neurology, Dietmar Ausserhofer and Giuliano Piccoliori of the Institute of General Medicine and Public Health of the Provincial Higher School of Health “Claudiana” of Bolzano and other experts from the areas of internal medicine, neurology, general medicine, psychiatry, dermatology, paediatrics, rehabilitation, health and statistics.
2,065 people living in Tyrol and 1,075 people living in South Tyrol have already taken part in the online survey. “We know of persistent post-infectious symptoms from other pathogens as well, but the number of cases in the current pandemic will be a very demanding challenge,” he points out. Günter Weiss. With the results of this study, which will continue in Tyrol, the aim is to develop health care strategies that can respond to the long recovery after Covid-19.
“The transfer of knowledge to general practitioners here plays a central role for the treatment and individual care of Long Covid patients, especially for the coordination of specialist examinations and rehabilitation measures”, he concludes Dietmar Ausserhofer. The development of an integrated and scientifically supported care model is already underway in Tyrol.