Bad Tölz (dpa / lby) - According to a study in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district, around one in six corona patients suffers from health consequences for a long time after the acute illness. The COVITÖLZ study came to similar conclusions as previous studies, according to which an estimated 15 percent of previously infected people later have symptoms and thus health restrictions.
Around 3,000 of the 9,000 local residents who had been written to and who had been registered as infected between February 2020 and the end of November 2021 took part in the COVITÖLZ study, as the district office announced on Tuesday. Half of the participants continued to report complaints.
"If you assume that it was mainly those who responded who were doing poorly, then around 17 percent of the infected residents of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district would have long-term health problems - up to two years after the infection," said Antonius Schneider, Head of the Institute for General Medicine and Health Services Research at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich. "It is worrying that these patients have, on average, a high level of physical and mental suffering, up to 20 percent of those affected by post-Covid show signs of depression or anxiety disorders," said Schneider.
The co-initiator of the study and coordinating doctor in the district, Jörg Lohse, said the results underlined a high need for support services. "Self-help groups should be created that network with each other, ideally with professional support." Research projects and financial resources are needed to develop and implement measures.
District administrator Josef Niedermaier (free voters) said he hoped that the study would help to offer better treatment options. Once again it shows that the corona virus should not be underestimated and must continue to be taken seriously.
