Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a threat to patients not only because of its acute course, but also because of various complications occurring in the following period, that is, more than 28 days after the onset of acute infection. The present study identified a total of 121 patients hospitalized 29 or more days after the first positive result of a PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, of whom 98 patients were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups by the time interval between the positive COVID-19 test result and hospitalization date. The time intervals were week 5–11 in an ongoing-COVID group (57.1% of patients) and 12 or more weeks in a post-COVID-group (42.9%). The most frequent reason for hospitalization was respiratory tract infection (58.2%). Pneumonia accounted for 77.2% of these cases. Other reasons for hospitalization were interstitial lung disease (22.4%), pulmonary embolism (8.2%), and sarcoidosis (6.1%). The study group was further divided according to the causes of hospitalization into subgroups with infections and other causes. In the group with infectious diseases, there was a shorter time period between PCR positivity and hospitalization and there were significantly more frequent non-respiratory complications. In the entire sample, the in-hospital mortality was 5.1%.
Highlights
Acute infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) persists for up to four weeks after the initial symptoms develop
PostCOVID-19 complications are defined as (a) persistent, worsening, re-emerging or new acute infection symptoms, (b) deterioration of the quality of life or functional status compared with the pre-COVID-19 period, (c) the presence of persistent or progressive pulmonary pathology on radiologic imaging or abnormal lung function test results with other possible causes being ruled out [2]
The syndrome leads to increased vulnerability to secondary infections and organ dysfunction even after a seeming recovery from acute COVID-19 infection [2]
Summary
Acute infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) persists for up to four weeks after the initial symptoms develop. The period after acute infection, referred to as long. COVID-19 by the NICE, is divided into two phases, ongoing (post-acute) COVID-19 present from four up to 12 weeks and post-COVID-19 present for more than 12 weeks [1]. PostCOVID-19 complications are defined as (a) persistent, worsening, re-emerging or new acute infection symptoms, (b) deterioration of the quality of life or functional status compared with the pre-COVID-19 period, (c) the presence of persistent or progressive pulmonary pathology on radiologic imaging or abnormal lung function test results with other possible causes being ruled out [2]. During COVID-19, systemic inflammatory response syndrome develops excessively, marked by elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. The body responds by developing compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome
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