Postcoronavirus Disease 2019 Cough and Breathlessness in Patients Following Mild, Moderate, and Severe Diseases

Background: Postcoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cough and dyspnea is reported as one of the most common symptoms following COVID-19 infection. Our study aimed to evaluate whether the severity of COVID-19 has any relation with post-COVID-19 cough and dyspnea. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is over, there are some sporadic cases. Moreover, COVID-19 can be taken as a prototype for other severe viral respiratory illnesses. These findings may be extrapolated for other viral respiratory illnesses. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study with convenience sampling of 88 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing. These patients were followed up at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 3 months after discharge at a tertiary care center. Patients who had a history of cough, dyspnea, obstructive airway disease, preexisting parenchymal lung disease, and pulmonary tuberculosis were excluded from the study. Results: Out of 65 patients with mild disease, 15.4% had a persistent cough 2 weeks after their COVID-19 infection, while 31.3% of patients with moderate disease had the same at 2 weeks follow-up. The number of patients with persistent symptoms went down during their next follow-ups. Even though there were only five patients with severe disease, 40% of them had persistent cough and dyspnea well into their 3 rd month after COVID-19 infection. Persistent cough and dyspnea were more common in those with advanced age and comorbidities. Conclusions: Post-COVID-19 cough and dyspnea were more common in patients who had moderate and severe COVID-19 and also in patients with advanced age and comorbidities, compared to those who had mild disease. Post-COVID-19 cough and dyspnea reduced with time.