Special committee to study long-term effects of COVID-19

September 20, 2020 10:35 pm | Updated 10:35 pm IST

The medical experts will evaluate patients based on whether they had mild or severe symptoms with special focus on people with comorbidities.

The medical experts will evaluate patients based on whether they had mild or severe symptoms with special focus on people with comorbidities.

The Karnataka government has decided to constitute a special technical committee to study the long-term effects of COVID-19 by monitoring the health of those who have recovered from the infection after contracting the virus.

The move comes in the backdrop of an increasing number of reports of people, who were discharged after successfully battling COVID-19, returning to hospitals with various health conditions and complications.

K. Sudhakar, Medical Education and COVID-19 in charge Minister, said that the committee will consist of medical experts. In a tweet, he said that the government will evaluate patients based on whether they had mild or severe symptoms with special focus on people with comorbidities.

“The medical experts team will also develop new strategies for clinical care to improve the long-term health of all those who recovered from COVID-19,” he said in the tweet, while citing The Hindu’s story on Sunday titled ‘What are the long-term effects of COVID-19?’

In Bengaluru, many hospitals have already launched outpatient clinics for people who have recovered from COVID-19 but find themselves suffering from side effects such as fatigue, breathlessness, headache, and joint pain.

Smitha Segu, nodal officer for COVID-19 for Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMRCI), said that they are planning to start a COVID Rehabilitation Clinic for patients who have been discharged. “We want to tell patients to come every month for an examination and make them undergo blood investigation. We will also suggest if they need any additional treatment,” she said.

Ms. Segu added that her team is in regular contact with all their patients. The team reaches out to them to find out how they are doing post their COVID-19 treatment. “Among patients who have reported having symptoms or health concerns, most of them have respiratory problems, fibrosis of the lungs or mild chest pain,” Dr. Segu said, adding that they will decide the future course of treatment after a detailed investigation.

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