[Al B]

Doctor – thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. I don’t think I’m the only one who appreciates the work.

And it might be a little too early to ask for broad answers but is there an (emerging) consensus on how Covid affects the lungs after otherwise recovering or any reliable general resources online that discuss it? I had a relatively mild case of the virus but my lung function still feels off after several weeks.

Thanks again for your help.

Topic

[Thomas Summer, MD]

Thomas Summer, MD on May 15, 2020 at 5:04 am #41731

Hi Al B!

For severe cases, there is probably a higher risk for long term consequences. If that’s also true for mild cases is very speculative. And if that is even permanent no one can tell at the moment. For light cases, at the moment, it seems that there is not much risk for long term consequences. But unfortunately, there are some small case reports or CT- studies, that show dramatic changes to the lung tissue. That can lead to too many worries in the public. At the moment it’s too early to make a reliable statement on this topic. There is so much new science and new studies published every day. It’s difficult to stay up to date, but I’ll post here, if there are any new informations on this topic.

What were your symptoms? How long? Fever?! Positive (and then negative) test? When did it start? What do you mean by “…my lung function still feels off…”?

I’m happy if I can help a bit. In the case of covid-19 I would really like to have more informations, but unfortunately there is a lot we don’t know.

Thomas

[Thomas Summer, MD]

Thomas Summer, MD on October 2, 2020 at 6:42 am #45624

Hi Al B!

It’s been a while… How are you doing?
Do you still have symptoms?

There is a disturbingly large number of people, who experience symptoms, long after the initial COVID-infection. Even after mild infections. We still don’t know a lot about this phenomenon, but it looks like “long covid” is another big problem of this crisis.

You find some good resorces here:
https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3026

lg!
Thomas