Clinician warns about Covid-19 sequelae

by Linda Straker

• Sequelae are conditions as consequence of a previous disease or injury
• To date, over 5,000 people have become infected with Covid-19
• People infected with mild form of Covid-19 turned to home and alternative remedies

Dr Dolland Noel, Head of Internal Medicine at the General Hospital has warned that some people who have become infected with Covid-19 will experience known symptoms of the disease and will have long term ailments that are directly linked to the viral infection.

“Viral infections usually have a sequela, so it’s always best to protect ourselves and prevent us from getting it in the first place,” he said while urging citizens to comply with the health and safety protocols for Covid-19.

“I can tell you that as a clinician what we are seeing, there are already people who have a sequela of Covid-19. The course of the illness is 7 to 14 days; most patients who come through our institution recover and are discharged within 7 to 14 days. However, there are some people who develop what you call a post covid syndrome,” he said, explaining that the long-term ailments are among those who are declared recovered.

“Some people have ongoing symptoms while others develop new symptoms,” said Dr Noel who is also Head of the Covid-19 Medical Response Team. Some of the ongoing symptoms include chronic fatigue or feeling of tiredness, persistent shortness of breath, persistent coughing, no sense of smell or taste as well as neurological symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

Dr Noel disclosed during the week post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday, 12 October 2021 that all infected by Covid-19 can get sequelae which can persist for weeks and or months after the initial recovery stage and everyone who believes that they were infected should seek medical counselling. A sequela is a condition that results from a previous disease or injury.

“What I want to stress to you, is that there are some of you out there who may have had the mild disease, because 80% of the population who were affected by Covid-19 is going to have mild disease: a little body ache, a little headache, a little fever and you may recover without medical attention. But what about that other 20% who may have moderate and severe disease,” he said.

Grenada began experiencing its first Covid-19 outbreak in mid-August and to date, over 5,000 people have become infected with the virus. Almost 300 were hospitalised. However, it is believed that more were infected with the mild form of the disease and did not seek formal medical care but turned to home and alternative remedies.

Dr Noel urged those people to seek medical counselling because of the long-term impact of Covid-19, and at the same time adjust the medical data at the Ministry of Health so that it reflects a more accurate count of the citizens who were affected by the virus.