Moscow. April 15. INTERFAX.RU – In Russia, there are no statistics and studies on the chronically occurring coronavirus COVID-19, but such cases occur in practice, said the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the department of hospital therapy at Pirogov Medical University, Alexander Chuchalin.
“We do not have such statistics in Russia, unlike other countries, such as the United States, Great Britain. Artificial intelligence mechanisms are used there, and the Western world is actively discussing the problem of long-covid, that is, a long-term illness,” Chuchalin told Interfax on Thursday.
“And, indeed, it is confirmed as the persistence of the virus (the preservation of the virus in a functionally active state in the cells of the body), its elimination (the death of the virus) does not occur in a short time, that is, within 4-6 weeks. Sometimes the virus is released in waves for 3 -4 months, then he disappeared, then he reappears, “Chuchalin added.
According to him, “it is believed that in certain places of the human body the virus can be deposited (stored), say, in the intestines, on the intestinal mucosa, in the organs of the genitourinary system.” “This is the topic that is being discussed, studied and facts are found,” he said.
Chuchalin also said that in his clinical practice there were patients who had undergone COVID-19 several times.
“As for my clinical practice specifically, I observe patients who suffered May-June (covid) for a year, and then autumn. And the second waves were more severe than the previous ones, and along the course it turns out to be the same disease “, – he specified.
Chuchalin reiterated that there is currently no data in Russia, and no studies are being carried out regarding chronically flowing covid, and a more pressing topic today is post-covid syndrome associated with a number of complications.
Answering the question whether the repeated coronavirus disease that occurs after a while is connected with infection with new strains, the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that “since variant forms of coronavirus have just come up, there are no scientific data today, that it happened again, but not primary infection “.
Earlier on Thursday, at an online meeting of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Rehabilitation after COVID-19,” Chuchalin said that post-coid research shows that COVID-19 can be chronic.
“The chronic course of COVID. Pay attention to how I put this question. There are those patients who have already suffered this disease twice, three times. I must say in the affirmative that, unfortunately, yes – there are such patients,” he said.
