Are you aware of the serious complications that can occur from COVID-19?

If you get COVID-19, your symptoms will likely be mild and you can manage them at home. That's true for most people. But if you're older or have other health conditions, like diabetes or heart disease, you're at higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19. Some people, about 1 in 6, develop life-threatening complications. The main cause of this is a condition called a 'cytokine storm.' Simply put, when we get an infection, our immune system goes into overdrive and releases inflammatory proteins called cytokines into our bloodstream. These can damage our tissues and damage vital organs like the lungs, heart, and kidneys.

What are the main complications that can occur due to Covid-19?

COVID-19 is not just a respiratory disease. It can affect many different systems in the body. Let's take a look at the main complications that can occur.

Let's look at these situations in a little more detail.

Effects on the lungs

The main cause of death from COVID-19 is lung damage. Think about it, when pneumonia develops, the small air sacs in the lungs become inflamed, making it very difficult to breathe. When you examine the lungs of severe COVID-19 patients, you can see that they are filled with fluid and pus.

Damage to the heart, liver, and kidneys

Covid-19 is not a disease limited to the lungs.

• Acute Liver Injury: The liver is the most commonly injured organ after the lungs. It is not yet clear whether this is caused by the virus itself or by the stress on the body caused by the illness. However, this is a life-threatening emergency.
• Acute Cardiac Injury: Many hospitalized COVID patients have also reported cardiac symptoms such as arrhythmias. Sometimes, even after recovery from COVID-19, inflammatory conditions of the heart muscle, such as myocarditis, can occur.
• Acute Kidney Injury:This is a bit uncommon, but it can be very serious if it occurs. If the kidneys stop working, you will need dialysis to remove waste products from the body. Sometimes this damage may not heal completely and may even develop into chronic kidney disease .

Blood clots and other serious conditions

Another dangerous complication of Covid-19 is blood clots.

• Blood Clots : A COVID patient is at higher risk of developing blood clots than a normal flu patient. These can form in the veins of the legs (Deep Vein Thrombosis - DVT ), in the lungs (Pulmonary Embolism - PE), or in the arteries.
• DIC condition: DIC (Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation) is a serious condition in which the blood clotting system is completely disrupted. This can lead to internal bleeding or organ failure.
• Septic Shock: Sepsis is when the body goes into overdrive in response to an infection and begins to damage organs. If this is not controlled, blood pressure can drop too low, leading to septic shock and even death.
• Secondary Infections: When the body is weakened from fighting COVID-19, another bacterial infection (e.g., strep, staph) can develop. This also increases the risk.

Let's also learn about children and long-term effects.

Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)

Although children are generally not seriously affected by COVID-19, some children have developed a condition called MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children) . This includes symptoms such as fever, stomach pain, vomiting, and skin rashes. This is a serious condition similar to Kawasaki disease that requires immediate medical attention.

Long COVID

Some people may have symptoms that persist for months after recovering from COVID-19. We also call this 'Long COVID' or Chronic Fatigue.

• Extreme fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating or 'brain fog'
• Body pain
• Dizziness

If these symptoms persist even after recovery, it is very important to talk to your doctor about them. Covid complications, COVID-19 complications Sinhala, pneumonia, ARDS, blood clots, Covid aftereffects, Long COVID Sinhala