• Bishal Tiwari, Manoj Ghimire, Gaurav Bhatta, Hemant Banstola, Bimala Tiwari, Anuradha Twayana, and Karun Shrestha.
• Beni Hospital, Myagdi, Gandaki, Nepal.
• JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2021 Jul 1; 59 (238): 550-553.

IntroductionThe corona virus disease 2019 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 belonging to corona viruses which are enveloped positive stranded RNA viruses. Non-critical coronavirus disease 2019 patients often lack follow up visits which has led to incomplete understanding of disease process. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of persistent symptoms in such patients during two months follow-up to a district hospital.MethodsThis descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a district hospital from September 2020 to February 2021 among non-critical corona virus disease 2019 patients admitted to the isolation center of Nepal. Ethical approval was taken from the ethical review board of Nepal Health Research Council (reference number: 1707). Convenience sampling was done. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.ResultsOut of 132 patients, 66 (50%) (41.5-58.5 at 95% Confidence Interval) patients had persistent symptoms at two-month follow-up. Forty-eight (36.4%) patients showed one symptom, 15 (11%) had two symptoms, and 3 (2%) had two or more symptoms. The most frequent symptom reported was fatigue in 17 (13%), cough in 15 (11%), myalgia in 9 (7%), and headache in 9 (7%).ConclusionsThe prevalence of persistent symptoms at two months follow up in our study was lower than findings from other international studies.

This article appears in the collection: What is Long COVID?.

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