Generic placeholder image

Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews

Author(s): Peyman Saberian, Behshad Pazooki, Zahra Shajari, Parisa Hasani-Sharamin, Mahnaz Jamshididana, Somayeh Karimi and Alireza Baratloo*

DOI: 10.2174/1573398X18666220509154612

DownloadDownload PDF Flyer Cite As
Persistent/Late Complications of COVID-19 in Affected Emergency Medical Technicians: A Case Series and Brief Literature Review

Page: [152 - 157] Pages: 6

  • * (Excluding Mailing and Handling)

Explore Articles
About Journal
For Authors
For Editors
For Reviewers

Abstract

Background: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of persistent/late complications after recovery from the acute phase of COVID-19 in emergency medical technicians (EMTs).

Methods: This is a cross-sectional case-series study performed during the last quarter of 2020 in Tehran, Iran. All EMTs who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 were eligible. The researcher contacted the EMTs via telephone to determine any complications following their recovery. Those who suffered from any complication were referred to an internal specialist physician for a detailed history and physical examination. Based on the physician’s opinion, some paraclinical or clinical evaluations were requested to be performed.

Results: Four hundred thirty-one confirmed cases and two deaths due to this disease were registered among the Tehran EMS center’s EMTs during the study period. Two hundred thirty-eight EMTs were contacted, and 22.7% of them had at least one persistent/late complication following recovery of the acute phase of COVID-19; of whom, 28 EMTs were visited by an internist and completed the tests. The final participants mentioned seventy-five persistent/late complications. Only one EMT had a residual lesion among those who underwent lung CT scans. There were also some pathological findings in the echocardiographic examination and spirometry.

Conclusion: Our study showed that persistent/late-onset complications could likely accompany by COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19, emergency medical technicians, persisting symptoms, follow-up, CT scans, complications.

Graphical Abstract

[1]
WHO Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-1 Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update---16-march-2021 (Accessed on 16 March 2021).
[2]
Carvalho-Schneider C, Laurent E, Lemaignen A, et al. Follow-up of adults with noncritical COVID-19 two months after symptom onset. Clin Microbiol Infect 2021; 27(2): 258-63.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2020.09.052] [PMID: 33031948]
[3]
Mizrahi B, Shilo S, Rossman H, et al. Longitudinal symptom dynamics of COVID-19 infection. Nat Commun 2020; 11(1): 6208.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20053-y] [PMID: 33277494]
[4]
Carfì A, Bernabei R, Landi F. Persistent symptoms in patients after acute COVID-19. JAMA 2020; 324(6): 603-5.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.12603] [PMID: 32644129]
[5]
Ramakrishnan A, Zreloff J, Moore MA, Bergquist SH, Cellai M, Higdon J. Eds. Prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection in outpa-tients. Open Forum Infect Dis 2021; 8(3): ofab060.
[6]
Yelin D, Wirtheim E, Vetter P, et al. Long-term consequences of COVID-19: Research needs. Lancet Infect Dis 2020; 20(10): 1115-7.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30701-5] [PMID: 32888409]
[7]
Saberian P, Mireskandari SM, Baratloo A, et al. Antibody rapid test results in emergency medical services personnel during COVID-19 pandemic; a cross sectional study. Arch Acad Emerg Med 2020; 9(1): : e2..
[PMID: 33313569]
[8]
Sadeghi M, Saberian P, Hasani-Sharamin P, Dadashi F, Babaniamansour S, Aliniagerdroudbari E. The possible factors correlated with the higher risk of getting infected by COVID-19 in emergency medical technicians; a case-control study. Bull Emerg Trauma 2021; 9(2): 67-72.
[PMID: 34150916]
[9]
WHO Criteria for releasing COVID-19 patients from isolation 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/criteria-for-releasing-covid-19-patients-from-isolation (Accessed on 17 June 2020).
[10]
Del Rio C, Collins LF, Malani P. Long-term health consequences of COVID-19. JAMA 2020; 324(17): 1723-4.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.19719] [PMID: 33031513]
[11]
Puntmann VO, Carerj ML, Wieters I, et al. Outcomes of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging in patients recently recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiol 2020; 5(11): 1265-73.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2020.3557] [PMID: 32730619]
[12]
Huang L, Zhao P, Tang D, et al. Cardiac involvement in patients recovered from COVID-2019 identified using magnetic resonance imag-ing. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 2020; 13(11): 2330-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.05.004] [PMID: 32763118]
[13]
Ojha V, Verma M, Pandey NN, et al. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic review of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings in 199 patients. J Thorac Imaging 2021; 36(2): 73-83.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/RTI.0000000000000574] [PMID: 33306666]
[14]
Huang Y, Tan C, Wu J, et al. Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on pulmonary function in early convalescence phase. Respir Res 2020; 21(1): 163.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12931-020-01429-6] [PMID: 32600344]
[15]
Zhao YM, Shang YM, Song WB, et al. Follow-up study of the pulmonary function and related physiological characteristics of COVID-19 survivors three months after recovery. EClinicalMedicine 2020; 25: 100463.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100463] [PMID: 32838236]
[16]
SeyedAlinaghi S, Afsahi AM, MohsseniPour M, et al. Late complications of COVID-19; a systematic review of current evidence. Arch Acad Emerg Med 2021; 9(1): e14.
[PMID: 33681819]