Status: 05.01.2022 8:49 p.m.
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A study by the Hamburg University Hospital provides new insights into the consequences of surviving a corona infection: According to this, even mild disease courses can damage organs such as the lungs, heart and kidneys.
Even a mild course of Covid-19 can cause damage to organs. This is the finding of researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). The virus can impair the functions of the heart, lungs and kidneys in the medium term, according to the scientists in their study. In addition, the light and moderate courses were accompanied by increased signs of leg vein thrombosis, the clinic said.
Study started in mid-2020
A total of 443 unvaccinated people were comprehensively examined for the “Hamburg City Health Study”. According to the UKE, the study began in mid-2020. For this purpose, the cardiovascular and vascular system, the lungs, the kidneys and the brain were examined for function, structure and possible consequential damage an average of ten months after the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The study participants reported no, mild or at most moderate symptoms at the time of infection. 93 percent of them were treated purely on an outpatient basis; according to the UKE, none required intensive medical treatment.
No damage to the brain
According to the results of the study, the total lung volume of the participants was reduced by an average of three percent compared to a control group, and the filter performance of the kidneys by two percent. The heart exams showed an average decrease in pumping power of one to two percent. In addition, the value for cardiac troponin – a protein complex, the increase of which indicates damage to the heart – was increased by 14 percent.
The patients who had survived a Covid 19 infection were two to three times more likely to have evidence of previous leg vein thrombosis than in the comparison group.
The patients’ brains showed no abnormalities. In addition, those affected did not report any impairment in quality of life.
“The knowledge that even a mild course of the disease can lead to damage to various organs in the medium term is of utmost importance, especially with regard to the current Omicron variant, which mostly seems to be associated with milder symptoms,” explained the scientists.
Stefan Blankenberg, UKE Hamburg, on the long-term consequences of mild Covid diseases
tagesschau24 4:00 p.m., 5.1.2022
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Damage is also possible after an Omicron infection
The data could not be completely transferred to the Omikron variant, said Stefan Blankenberg, head of the University Heart and Vascular Center at the UKE, in an interview tagesschau24. But if the Omikron variant encounters people who have not been vaccinated, then long-term impairments could also occur in these people.
In these cases, those affected should have their blood, kidney and heart values measured six months or three quarters later, according to Blankenberg. Symptoms could develop over the course of six to nine months. But you don’t necessarily have to feel it. It is also possible that heart failure or lung problems will not develop for ten or 20 years – or that a pulmonary embolism will occur.
The organs could recover from the corona disease, said Blankenberg. However, it is known that the slight changes could also worsen over the long term over ten to 30 years.
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