Coronavirus survivors can suffer from reduced lung functions, according to researchers in Hong Kong.
Some patients have presented with reduced lung capacity and left gasping for air when walking quickly, following their recovery from the disease.
Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority released its findings after doctors held follow-up appointments with around a dozen people who had been discharged after suffering from the first wave of COVID-19 which originated in early January.
Around a dozen discharged patients were examined as part of the research.
Two or three of those were unable to do the things they had been able to do before contracting coronavirus.
Lung scans of nine infected patients found patterns similar to frosted glass, suggesting they had suffered organ damage.
Such abnormalities are similar to those found in patients suffering from SARS and MERS.
Dr Owen Tsang Tak-yin, medical director of the authority’s Infectious Disease Centre, revealed the patients “gasp if they walk a bit more quickly.”
The doctor told the South China Morning Post some patients could have a drop up 30% in lung function after their recovery.
Dr Tsang studied patients in Hong Kong, where 77 of the 134 patients diagnosed have recovered.
He also added the patients still needed to undergo further tests to assess how much lung function they retained.
Coronavirus patients have been treated with Kaletra, a medication originally used for HIV/AIDS; hepatitis C drug Ribavirin; and interferon, according to the South China Morning Post.
Dr Tsang said physiotherapy would be used to strengthen their lungs over time, with cardiovascular exercises such as swimming to help their lungs recover.
He also explained it had yet to be determined whether the patients would develop long-term issues such as pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which lung tissue hardened and the organ could not function correctly.
Current patients with COVID-19 have shown fluid or debris filled sacs in the lungs, which may get progressively worse as the illness develops.
In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia.
The elderly and those with underlying health conditions are most at risk of serious illness and tragically, death.
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