S’pore Study Finds That Recovered COVID-19 Patients May Be Susceptible to Developing Blood Clots

By
Ashley Seek
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It’s never pleasant when you hear of someone getting COVID-19.

Days can feel like months as you wait for them to recover and thankfully, in Singapore, most COVID-19 patients have recovered.

However, for some of the recovered patients, there might be more to worry about.

S’porean Study Finds That Recovered COVID-19 Patients May Be Susceptible to Developing Blood Clots

And this comes in the form of blood clots post-recovery.

This was found in a study done by scientists from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and published on 23 March this year on the website eLife.

This is apparently because the body’s immune response sees the blood vessels of the patient being in danger.

It then prompts the body to produce cytokines, proteins produced by immune cells that activate the immune response against pathogens.

The response subsequently damages the blood vessels and forms clots.

Lest you didn’t know, blood clots could create blockage in the blood vessels and cause serious conditions like heart attacks or strokes.

After studying 30 recovered COVID-19 patients, NTU found that those with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions were more at risk of developing blood clots.

All of them had recovered from the virus for about a month.

The study saw the patients split among those who had mild, moderate and severe infections.

They were then analysed for the patient’s immune responses to the coronavirus.

Researchers found that the recovered patients still produced a lot of cytokines, despite the virus being absent.

An unusually high number of immune cells, known as T-cells, was also present in the blood of recovered patients.

Assistant Professor Christine Cheung noted that this meant the immune systems of recovered patients remain activated, even when the virus was gone.

Patients were also found with injured blood vessels post-recovery.

Taken together, the researchers hypothesised that the persistently activated immune responses in recovered patients may damage their blood vessels.

Larger Scale Test Ongoing

But you might be thinking the 30 people is a rather small number for a test.

This is why Asst Prof Cheung confirmed that a larger-scale study with NCID is currently ongoing.

It’ll also help build upon the current data.

The larger study will analyse at least 100 patients who have recovered from the infection for at least six months or longer.

Both current and future studies will also provide more insight identifying how certain immune responses may damage blood vessels.

The current one also showed that those who’ve recovered will benefit from close monitoring of their symptoms afterwards.

Note Any Serious Symptoms

Presently, the World Health Organization recommends hospitalised patients to use low-doses of blood thinners to prevent blood clotting.

However, it’s not certain if this should be done for those who’ve already recovered.

Asst Prof Cheung notes that survivors who experience symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness and especially chest pain should consult doctors ASAP.

“The doctor will be able to evaluate their risk of blood clotting, and carry out preventive therapy if necessary.”

She also says the severity of blood vessel damage for COVID-19 patients with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions was at least 20% more than in patients without them

Still, more research is needed to see if COVID-19 patients said cardiovascular conditions had higher chances to have blood clots than those without.

If you want to take a more in-depth look at the current study, you can check it out here.

Featured Image: Musashi akira / Shutterstock.com

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Ashley Seek
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