Being infected with Covid-19 for two weeks, 60-year-old Nguyen Thi Thu in Hanoi tested and received a negative result. She admitted that she has always been in a tired status and cannot sleep or eat well. Fearing that her physical health might be damaged, she visited a hospital for a thorough check and was told to have some mild post-Covid conditions, and it should take her a long time to fully recover.
Seeing that so many people having to endure post-acute Covid-19 syndrome, recovered Covid-19 patient Nguyen Thi Thanh Tram from Cu Chi District of Ho Chi Minh City has her chest X-rayed once a week, costing her VND200,000 (US$8.74) each time. She also performed a CT-scan worth VND1.5 million ($65.6) to feel at ease.
Sharing a different story is 62-year-old Ha The Minh from District 3 of HCMC. He has visited many hospitals with the hope to fully cure any post-Covid conditions, but without success. He even bought a medical examination package worth VND10 million ($437) in one hospital, along with eating various kinds of nutritious food. Sadly, he still suffers from breathing difficulty, frequent cough, and sleeplessness.
To answer the needs of the community, many healthcare institutes have recently developed their own different post-Covid examination packages, ranging from VND1-10 million ($43.7-437).
Thanh Nhan Hospital in Hanoi served around 100 patients, mostly the over-60-year-old, each day coming for post-Covid checking. They have typical symptoms of shortness of breath, breathing difficulty, fatigue, sleeplessness, cough, joint pain. Depending on each specific case, doctors might order a blood test, CT lung scan to evaluate the lesion level. Based on these clinical results, they will prescribe suitable medication, or even request hospitalization.
Thong Nhat Hospital in HCMC also offers medical packages of general examination, liver and kidney function checking, image-based diagnosis, blood count, Ct scanning, MRI scanning, and other in-depth tests.
In fact, many recovered people do not need medical intervention to overcome these symptoms at all. They change their exercise, eating, sleeping habits and rebalance their thinking to cure their sleeplessness, prolonged anxiety, depression.
On the contrary, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue – Director of the Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department (under the Health Ministry) – suggested that people with serious underlying medical conditions must follow doctor’s advice should have their physical health frequently checked or seek medical attention when their daily operations are severely affected. They must not use drugs with unknown origin or listen to medical advice from unprofessional people, which could lead to even graver situations.
Doctor Nguyen Thanh Luan from Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC also advised that individuals asking for an unnecessary CT lung scan or X-ray is not a good solution to cure post-Covid conditions, yet could cost people a great amount of money. Also, a normal result of these scans may result in negligent thinking, and other symptoms cannot be cure in time.
Director Khue informed that the Health Ministry has assigned the Central Mental Hospital to develop a detailed treatment protocol for post-Covid conditions, as well as suitable exercises for the rehabilitation of newly recovered patients.
In addition, the Health Ministry has instructed that when the number of Covid-19 patients cannot turn to zero, each hospital should prepare to treat these patients in corresponding departments of their underlying medical conditions. They would receive medical help and post-Covid monitoring directions from professionals of respective departments.
“The establishment of a specific department or clinic just for post-Covid treatment is understandable, but not urgent or practical at present”, said Director Khue.
Who should seek medical attention for post-Covid conditions?
Post-Covid syndrome can happen to anyone of any age, regardless of their acute status. However, Covid-19 patients of severe or critical status as well as those having underlying medical conditions should especially seek medical examination after recovering from the disease.
These three groups of Covid-19 patients are advised to visit a hospital for post-Covid treatment:
_People with underlying medical conditions (high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, metabolic disorders)
_People from 60 years of age
_People hospitalized due to respiratory failure and requiring supplemental oxygen
