"Severe Aftereffects Worse After COVID Recovery, 'Feeling Like Fainting Just from Bathing'"

Onset of Respiratory Distress, Cough, Taste and Smell Disorders, Hair Loss, and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] A significant number of young people in Japan who were infected with COVID-19 and have recovered are experiencing aftereffects.

On the 22nd, the Mainichi Shimbun introduced the aftereffects of COVID-19 in the younger generation, reporting cases where fatigue has made it difficult to carry out daily activities properly.

According to the report, A, a second-year middle school male student who tested positive for COVID-19 last August, is still suffering from aftereffects such as fatigue and taste disorders. Although A had mild symptoms at the time of infection, he reportedly has hardly been able to attend school due to fatigue after recovering from COVID-19.

B, a first-year high school female student who was infected with COVID-19 in May last year, has also been experiencing abnormal symptoms such as dizziness for over a year. In particular, the fatigue was so severe that she would collapse just from taking a bath, and she advanced to a correspondence school where she did not have to commute to school in person. B was diagnosed by a doctor with a neuroimmune disease called "myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome."

According to a survey conducted this month by Setagaya Ward in Tokyo of 3,710 people who had experienced COVID-19 infection, the rate of aftereffects was 53% among people in their 30s and 47% among those in their 20s. In contrast, it was 35% for those in their 80s and 39% for those in their 90s.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined COVID-19 aftereffects last month as "symptoms that develop within 3 months from the confirmed infection, last for more than 2 months, and cannot be explained by other diseases." Representative symptoms include cognitive impairment, fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, taste and smell disorders, and hair loss.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.