By Koco
McAboy Published 4 days ago FOX 11 Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES - Doctors and scientists
are finding devastating side effects in COVID-19 survivors even after they have
recovered from the virus.
Elisa Wishan tested positive for COVID-19 on March 26 and
battled the virus until April 17. She is testing negative now but said she
still has many side effects.
"There's some side effects that are not going away, and
it's unfortunate. A lot of fatigue, a lot of joint pain, really tired, falling
asleep early. I'm a completely different person," she said.
Wishan said she also experiences inflammation in her neck and
other areas of her body.
"I've been sick with the flu before, but this was the worst
experience I think I've ever experienced in my life. I've had it. I've
experienced it, and I'm still experiencing side effects. If they want to go on
the news and say it's not real, it is real," exclaimed Wishan.
Dr. Sassan Rafizadeh is a Molecular Physiologist who has been
studying the lungs for years. He said the effects are traumatic on the
body even when people are discharged from the hospital.
"As doctors and scientists, we are terrified. We've never
seen anything like this. Our hospitals are close to full capacity and we
haven't even started to talk about long-term consequences," said
Rafizadeh.
He said there are many long-term consequences to COVID-19.
"There can be problems with the brain, the heart, the
kidneys. If they survive that, what we see in the lungs specifically is
fibrosis or scarring," he said.
Pulmonary fibrosis is one of the devastating effects from the
virus.
"Once the virus is in the lungs, it initiates a massive
inflammatory response and what that leads to is the lungs being flooded with
fluid so it's like trying to breathe through a pool of water. It is something
that remains in the lungs. It's not something that goes away on its own and the
medications are not optimal," Rafizadeh said.
He said the patients who survive ICU admission have to recover
in rehab for weeks and their conditions could last a lifetime.
"They're in rehab for weeks, and it takes them a long time
to recover. When it comes to pulmonary fibrosis, the prognosis is worse than
many cancers," he said.
Dr. Rafizadeh said some data coming in even suggests long-term
effects for asymptomatic patients.
"People really need to take it seriously. We just don't
know the long term consequences. There's some data coming in that even in
asymptomatic patients, there can be long term effects," he said.
Andrew Young, the CEO of Upright Pharmaceuticals, is working on
a therapy to target fibrosis with a drug candidate. The drug is in pre-clinical
trials right now.
"When someone presents with Covid, if they have an acute
case, their immune system goes nuclear and really just causes massive damage,
including to the lungs. Vaccines aren't perfect and the people who still get
Covid-19 need help," said Young.
Wishan is warning the public to take the virus seriously.
"Thank God I'm alive to tell you guys, but this is a
serious situation. You guys have got to be careful. This is not funny. This is
a killer. I really thought I wasn't going to make it," said Wishan.
Rafizadeh and other doctors are urging people to wear masks,
practice social distancing and wash their hands to prevent a COVID-19
infection.
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