Online desk ; The World Health Organization has issued fresh clinical advice for treating Covid-19 patients, including those displaying persistent symptoms after recovery, and also advised using low-dose anti-coagulants to prevent blood clots.
“The other things in the guidance that are new are that Covid-19 patients at home should have the use of pulse oximetry, that’s measuring the oxygen levels, so you can identify whether someone at home is deteriorating and would be better off having hospital care,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a UN briefing in Geneva.
The WHO also advised clinicians to put patients into the awake prone position, on their front, shown to improve the oxygen flow, she said.
“Also we recommend, we suggest the use, of low-dose anti-coagulents to prevent blood clots forming in blood vessels. We suggest the use of lower doses rather than higher doses because higher doses may lead to other problems,” Dr Harris said.
A study by the Office for National Statistics in the UK estimated that one in five people has Covid symptoms that persist after five weeks.
One in ten has symptoms for 12 weeks or longer after acute coronavirus infection.
An article published in The Lancet medical journal last month by healthcare workers affected by long Covid listed ongoing symptoms including renal impairment, new-onset diabetes and lung disease.
