Análise dos sintomas pós-COVID-19 na população cearense e a relação com a presença de comorbidades

Abstract

With the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there was a worldwide spread that spread rapidly, affecting many people and giving rise to the new disease called COVID-19. Having variable symptoms, the virus proved more lethal in people with comorbidities and left many infected with post- COVID-19 symptoms. Objective: To analyze the occurrence of post-COVID-19 symptoms in individuals from Ceará. Methodology: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, observational study that will assess the predictive factors that represent risk in the clinical progression of COVID-19, correlating data such as comorbidities, age and treatment, in infected people between January 2020 and June 2022. Results and discussion: In the data collection, a total of 194 (100%) participants were obtained who had COVID-19 and had confirmatory testing. It could be noted that most of the infected were women (71%), under the age of 30 years (60%), ranging between white (51%) and brown (44%) ethnicity. Only 41 participants (21%) had some type of comorbidities, while all 194 (100%) had at least one post-COVID-19 symptom, the most common being hair loss (88; 45.36%), fatigue (79; 40.72%), and difficulty concentrating (78; 40.21%). The present study which had a majority of female subjects and of white ethnicity showed that participants who had post-COVID-19 symptoms had comorbidities; hypertension and diabetes were the most frequent and that, although asthma is not a disease with such a high prevalence, a considerable number of participants reported asthma. The symptoms can appear in the most diverse forms, being more common in people with multiple comorbidities and who had a worse course of infection. Conclusion: The data obtained from this study provide evidence that the presence of comorbidities is a risk factor for the progression of COVID-19 infection, and that many people are left with post-infection symptoms such as hair loss, nerve problems, and fatigue. This emphasizes the need to get vaccinated and take preventive measures for infection.