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Post-covid syndrome in individuals admitted to hospital with covid-19: retrospective cohort study

BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n693 (Published 31 March 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;372:n693

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Re: Post-covid syndrome in individuals admitted to hospital with covid-19: retrospective cohort study

Dear Editor,

Given that it is now clear that Covid-19 is a systemic condition caused by a hyperimmune reaction to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is unsurprising that post-Covid multi-organ disease is observed - particularly myocardial damage, vascular phenomena such as stroke, peripheral thrombosis and cardiac infarction. These are all features of acute severe infection, and lasting damage is hardly unexpected.

What would be interesting, however, would be to compare a cohort of patients with Covid-19 who were or were not treated with steroids and anti-interleukin compounds such as tocilizumab. My suspicion is that the treated cohort would have a much lower incidence of multi-system disease, as the acute cause would have been blocked. I hope the authors might consider such a study.

Competing interests: No competing interests

25 April 2021
Andrew N Bamji
Retired consultant rheumatologist
None
Rye