Coronavirus: diseases — симптомы, диагностика и лечение

COVID-19 has ceased to be an emergency, but has not disappeared: the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to circulate and cause seasonal surges along with influenza and other respiratory infections. The picture has changed for two reasons - the virus has evolved to primarily affect the upper respiratory tract, and most people already have immune memory from infection, vaccination, or both. Therefore, today a typical case looks like a moderately severe ARVI: sore throat, runny nose, fever, cough, weakness for several days. But there is an important exception to this calm picture. For older adults, those with severe obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and especially those with weakened immune systems, COVID-19 is still more dangerous than the common cold. The task of today is not panic or complete ignorance, but the ability to distinguish an ordinary case from a situation that requires a doctor.

Post-Covid syndrome is a condition in which symptoms persist or reappear three months after a coronavirus infection and last for at least two months, without being explained by another diagnosis. It’s worth starting with the main thing: this is not a “cheat”, not depression in disguise, and not an invention of suspicious patients. The condition is included in the International Classification of Diseases under code U09 precisely because doctors around the world have encountered the same set of complaints in people who were healthy and productive before the disease. Many patients have to hear “the tests are good, that means you are healthy,” and this is one of the most traumatic phrases in their experience. Normal results of standard tests do occur often, but they only mean that routine tests do not capture the mechanism of the disorder, and not that there are no complaints. The good news is that for most people, symptoms gradually subside over several months, and well-managed recovery will significantly speed up the process.