Study reveals 1 in 8 ‘recovered’ Covid-19 patients dies within 140 days

According to a recent study by the researchers at the University of Leicester and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), one in eight ‘recovered’ Covid-19 patients dies within 140 days, as per media reports.

The study found that 29.4 per cent of discharged Covid-19 patients developed health issues again and were re-admitted, of which 12.3 per cent die after suffering complications.

‘A lot of people re-admitted’

One of the authors of the study, Professor Kamlesh Khunti, said, as cited in the Telegraph report: “People seem to be going home, getting long-term effects, coming back in and dying. We see nearly 30 per cent have been re-admitted, and that’s a lot of people. The numbers are so large.”

Also read: Sore and Itchy eyes indicate Covid-19: Study

Khunti said that health services need to strategise and layout effective plans to tackle long Covid-19.

For the study, the researchers observed 47,780 discharged patients and found that the long-term effects of Covid-19 can result in the development of heart problems, diabetes, chronic liver, and kidney conditions.

New ailments

Furthermore, people under the age of 70 developed lung, heart, kidney, and liver problems, and new cases of diabetes were reported weeks or even months after the recovery from the infection.

Also read: The origins of Covid-19

The Professor added: “We don’t know if it’s because Covid-19 destroyed the beta cells which make insulin and you get Type 1 diabetes, or whether it causes insulin resistance, and you develop Type 2, but we are seeing these surprising new diagnoses of diabetes.”

Long Covid-19 is the condition where the infection gets cleared within weeks while leaving the patient with one or more persistent symptoms. This includes breathing issues, joint pain, chest pain, loss of taste and/or smell, and fatigue, among others.