MOH: Lethargy Most Dominant Long Covid Symptom

About 75% of 25,122 reported long Covid patients in Malaysia experienced lethargy; 63% have shortness of breath; 14% develop coughs; 9% have difficulty sleeping; and 4% develop anxiety.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 – Lethargy is the most dominant symptom in patients who develop long Covid, affecting over three-quarters of patients.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said while the majority of people who are infected with Covid-19 will recover, a small number will experience a condition called “long Covid”, or persistent symptoms beyond recovery for the acute illness.

Khairy said a total of 25,122 Covid-19 patients, who had been discharged from hospitals, were given follow-up treatment appointments for the purpose of monitoring and receiving treatment for long-term Covid-19 symptoms, as of February 2022.

Khairy told Senator Bobbey Suan, in a written Dewan Negara reply on March 31, that based on the monitoring of these patients, most long Covid patients experienced lethargy at 75.1 per cent. This is followed by shortness of breath when performing certain activities at 63.1 per cent, cough (14 per cent), difficulty sleeping (8.6 per cent), and anxiety (3.8 per cent).

A University Malaya study found that women had a 58 per cent higher chance of experiencing long Covid than men.

The local research also found that those without symptoms or with mild symptoms reported experiencing long Covid (10 per cent and 17.5 per cent respectively), compared to those in the moderate (26.7 per cent) and severe (30.4 per cent) categories.  

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