More than 5,000 long Covid patients receiving treatment and rehabilitation

 

As of Oct 31, there were 5,193 long Covid patients receiving treatment and rehabilitation, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. - NSTP/ASWADI ALIAS

KUALA LUMPUR: As of Oct 31, there were 5,193 long Covid patients receiving treatment and rehabilitation, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said they are being treated at 31 public hospitals, four university hospitals and six private hospitals nationwide.

Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said, in general, the majority of the Covid-19 patients were able to fully recover from the infection.

He said there are two periods for long Covid, namely ongoing symptomatic Covid-19, where patients are experiencing symptoms four to 12 weeks after infection, and post Covid-19 syndrome where patients still show symptoms after 12 weeks and those symptoms cannot be explained by alternative diagnosis.

He said the Health Ministry had analysed 2,712 ongoing symptomatic Covid-19 cases at the Sungai Buloh Hospital Covid-19 Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialised Services (Cross) between November 2020 and September this year.

"Of the total, 36.3 per cent (984) of the cases were fully recovered, 63.2 per cent (1,715) still experiencing lingering symptoms and 0.05 per cent (13) succumbed to death.

"However, medical records showed that other comorbidities also contributed to these death cases such as cancer, kidney failure, heart attack, blood infection and lung diseases," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said over the same period of time, some 2,324 cases who were experiencing post Covid-19 syndrome were also analysed.

"Of the total, 97.5 per cent of the patients were Category 4 and 5 cases. Evaluation after 12 weeks revealed that 39.4 per cent (914) of the 2,324 patients able to fully recover while 60.6 per cent (1,410) still experiencing lingering symptoms with a majority having more than one symptom.

"The five common symptoms are lethargy (71.8 per cent), difficulty breathing when doing activities (61.9 per cent); coughing (13.6 per cent); aches (13.2 per cent) and difficulty sleeping well (11 per cent)."

Dr Noor Hisham said as the condition may stay longer without specific treatment, the ministry is taking the "Recognition, Rehabilitation and Research" approach to tackle the issue and a special rehabilitation programme is in place to help those suffering from long Covid symptoms. - NST