Warning to anyone who’s had Covid over risk of complication months later

COVID infections can lead to chest pains and complications years down the line, a study claims.

Researchers found patients who had tested positive were more likely to suffer the symptom six months to a year after an infection.

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They tracked cardiovascular symptoms in 150,000 people who had coronavirus in Salt Lake City, Utah.

While there were no increases in heart attacks or strokes, researchers said the chest pains could indicate they’re more likely to have heart problems in the future.

Dr Heidi May, of Intermountain Health, said: “Many Covid patients experience symptoms well beyond the acute phase of infection.

“We didn’t see any significant rates of major events like heart attack or stroke in patients who had an initial mild initial infection.

“But we did find chest pains to be a persistent problem, which could be a sign of future cardiovascular complications.”

Latest data shows Covid infections in the UK have increased for the fourth week in a row to 1.5million on any given day in the week ending February 21.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) experts said there are signs the latest rise might be slowing down.

However, experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of long Covid, where symptoms persist for more than four weeks after an infection.

Previous research has shown Covid can give people chest tightness or pain, heart palpitations and changes to their heart rate months after catching the virus.

The latest study was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 2023 Scientific Conference in New Orleans.

Researchers compared 148,158 patients who tested positive for the virus from March 2020 to December 31, 2021, to the same number of Covid-negative during the period.

They also compared them to a group of the same number who attended the Intermountain Health hospital in 2019.

The Covid group were significantly more likely to have chest pains six months to a year after their infection.

Dr May said: “As of right now, the symptoms aren’t necessarily translating into hard outcomes, but that’s something that will need to be reassessed over time.

“It could be that lasting effects of infection on the cardiovascular system are hard to quantify in terms of diagnoses in the short-term and won’t be realised until longer follow up.”