COVID-19 Among Young and Healthy May Lead to Long-Term Illness

COVID-19 among the young and healthy appears to be not as severe as in those in their senior years who have it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a low COVID-19 death among children and teenagers.

A 25-year-old infected with COVID-19 is estimated to be 250 times less likely to die from the disease than an 85-year-old infected.

The average death count of people infected with COVID-19 under 35 is just one for every 1,000 people.

Thus, it is not surprising if people get the impression that the disease is less serious among the young than in the old.

It does not help that the effects of COVID-19 is inconsistent from one person to another, according to a report on The Atlantic.

The truth is getting infected with COVID-19 presents several serious health challenges. For some, especially those with comorbidity, it can be fatal. For most young adults, especially those who are asymptomatic, there will be no immediate threat to their health.

These young ones should know that even when they are asymptomatic, COVID-19 can affect their immune system or wreak havoc with their internal organs.

This means that having COVID-19 may not be dangerous for the young ones now, but it could lead them to have a long-term illness.

There have even been studies now that show more than half of asymptomatic patients have abnormalities on their lungs.

The Journal of the American Heart Association also published a report in March, a study that found that 7 to 20 percent of those who contracted COVID-19 had heart damage.

There are also what medical practitioners call as the COVID-19 "long-haulers," whose ages are mostly in the 20s up to the 50s. More worrisome is that most of these people were healthy before getting the disease.

Long-haulers are those COVID-19 patients whose symptoms persist for months, according to a report on The New York Times.

Among the symptoms that persist for months are chronic fatigue, erratic heartbeat, shortness of breath, gynecological problems, unrelenting fevers, bruising, gastrointestinal problems, bulging veins, lost sense of smell, short-term memory loss, and hallucinations.

The long-haulers do not only suffer physical symptoms, but their mental health is also affected.

Their months of illness have resulted in feelings of anxiety and depression made worse by the difficulty in accessing medical services, work disruption, and disruption to their exercise and social routines.

With the number of COVID-19 long haulers increasing, health authorities change their perception that the illness is only short term.

Another concern of COVID-19 among the younger age groups is that they are more likely to spread it to the older ones because they opt to go out, according to a report on The Washington Post.

The World Health Organization has warned that the young ones have become the primary drivers of the COVID-19 not only in the U.S. but in other countries as well.

Check these out:

COVID-19 Vaccine: President Trump Says the Vaccine May Be Available by October Already

Coronavirus Vaccine Needs to be Administered in Two Doses, Potential Problems Seen

U.S. COVID-19 Deaths: 94 Percent of People Who Died had Contributing Conditions, CDC Reports