The infection doctor about long-term illness: "It comes and goes"

Judith Bruchfeld is chief physician and infection specialist at Karolinska Hospital, and leads a research project on long-term illness in covid-19.

- It is still difficult to say how serious it is, as the perspective is still short in time.

The patients we at Karolinska follow up are those who have been hospitalized with severe pneumonia of covid-19.

We receive more and more referrals from primary care that affect patients who have not been cared for in hospital and have not had oxygen-demanding problems but still have long-term effects.

"Important to read why"

Why the symptoms do not go away in some people is not yet known.

This is an important field of research, emphasizes Judith Bruchfeld.

Could it be virus residues in the body or something with the immune system that affects?

- We do not know that there would be virus residues left, it does not remain in the airways in any case.

Can it become chronic?

- It is far too early to say.

The important thing is that we carefully examine this patient group and try to find out why you have different problems from the brain or heart and then perhaps can design some type of treatment.

Different long-term effects

Judith Bruchfeld has worked as an infectious disease doctor for many years and thinks that there are differences in long-term illness after covid-19 in comparison with other viral infections.

- With the flu, we know that you can be tired for a while, but you usually get better.

There is also a course for other viral infections.

Here it is something that goes up and down and according to some patients can last for up to five months without signs of improvement.

To care for the long-term sick, she thinks that specialist care and primary care should work together.

- You could do a basic investigation in primary care and then refer on to specialist clinics, preferably with several different specialists.

It is about being able to investigate the patient as efficiently and as quickly as possible, and that it is not sent on a number of examinations for months without reaching any conclusions.