The Guardian Conventional wisdom suggests that when a sickness is mild, it’s not too much to worry about. But if you’re taking comfort in reports that “most” Covid-19 cases are mild or asymptomatic, think again. As virologists race to understand the COVID-19 virus, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: even “mild” cases can be more complicated, dangerous and harder to shake than many first thought.
Throughout the pandemic, a notion has persevered that people who have mild cases of Covid-19 and do not require an ICU stay or the use of a ventilator are spared from serious health repercussions. Just last week, Vice President Mike Pence said it’s “a good thing” that nearly half of the new COVID-19 cases surging in 16 states are young Americans, who are at less risk of becoming severely ill than their older counterparts.
This kind of rhetoric would lead you to believe that the ordeal of “mildly infected” patients ends within two weeks of becoming ill, at which point they recover and everything goes back to normal.
While that may be the case for some people who get COVID-19, emerging medical research as well as anecdotal evidence from recovery support groups suggest that many survivors of “mild” COVID-19 are not so lucky. They experience lasting side-effects, and doctors are still trying to understand the ramifications.
Some of these side effects can be fatal.
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