'A persisting shortness of breath'Sahanic's research included data on 86 patients with severe Covid-19 who were enrolled in the study between April and June. The patients were evaluated six weeks after being discharged from the hospital and then just recently evaluated again at 12 weeks, Sahanic said during a news conference on Friday. At six weeks, Sahanic and her colleagues in Austria found that 65.9% of patients exhibited persistent Covid-19 symptoms, with shortness of breath and cough being the most common. "Dr Sahanic's presentation is important because it is one of the first, comprehensive prospective follow-ups of these patients and shows the serious, long-term impact of COVID-19 on the lungs and heart. "Al Chikhanie's research complements this information and shows how essential it is for patients to start pulmonary rehabilitation as soon as they are physically able to do so."

Source: CNN September 06, 2020 22:41 UTC