Post-COVID-19: systemic impacts and aftereffects of the infection

Introduction: Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Numerous clinical manifestations have been observed after the period of acute illness, being called post-covid conditions. Recently, the persistence of symptoms in SARS-CoV-2 infection that characterize the post-COVID-19 syndrome has been recognized. Objectives: Taking into account the regional and population variations of the manifestations of COVID-19, it was noted the importance of tracing a profile of the long-term symptoms of the post-COVID syndrome in the population of the city of Catanduva. Methods: This is a quantitative cross-sectional study in which information was collected using a standardized instrument with closed questions applied by the online tool Google Forms (ethical approval CEP/UNIFIPA 5.922.250). Results: A sample of 132 people was obtained, of which 75.8% were women and 24.2% were men. The cut-off value of 40 years was established because it is a value that is close to the average age and separates young adults from middle-aged and elderly adults. 80.3% of the studied sample were aged up to 40 years and 19.6% were aged over 40 years. The disease transmission rate was higher in 2021, with 47.7% of the positive sample this year, followed by 2022 with 37%. One of the first questions asked was about the diagnosis of Covid-19, if they would know whether or not they contract the virus, of the 132 responses obtained, the highest percentage was positive, 74% of the sample confirmed the positivity by RT-PCR and 26% through rapid test in pharmacy. Regarding pre-existing comorbidities, 79% did not have any comorbidities, and a small part of the sample reported hypertension, asthma, ulcerative colitis and thalassemia. The symptoms presented were related to the respiratory (66%), neurological (54,5%) and cardiovascular (47%) systems, in addition to some general symptoms, such as fever, headache, loss of smell and taste. Conclusions: It is known that factors genetic, environmental, geographic and population factors interfere with how SARS-CoV-2 impacts the health of different populations around the globe. Among the patients monitored in the research, the proportion of absence of comorbidities is higher and the most frequent symptoms presented was respiratory such as fatigue, cough and dyspnea. In this context, the results presented by the present study made it possible to draw a profile of how the long-term consequences of the infection are manifested in the population of the city of Catanduva.