“What is rehab like after COVID? - KSAT San Antonio” plus 1 more

What is rehab like after COVID? - KSAT San Antonio

Posted: 01 Sep 2020 04:43 PM PDT

DENVER, Colo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – For those who have recovered from COVID-19, the path can be a long one. The more time spent in the ICU and on a ventilator, the harder and longer it will be to get back to normal or get to a new normal.

From brain fog to fatigue and having trouble breathing, the symptoms can vary.

"It was like the flu on steroids," shared COVID-19 survivor Clarence Troutman. "I could not draw in any air whatsoever."

Living a month on a ventilator, Clarence Troutman is now COVID-free, but he knows surviving the disease was just the beginning.

"It was almost in some ways like being a newborn baby," Troutman described.

"There's a lot of retraining, strengthening, and a whole process to get people back to living their lives," explained William Niehaus, MD, who specializes in physical medicine & rehabilitation at University of Colorado Hospital.

"It just, really took a lot of intensive rehab," added Kat Aksamit, PT, DPT, NCS, a physical therapist at University of Colorado Hospital.

Doctors found that many patients need a team of therapists to relearn how to walk, talk, and even problem solve, as the disease attacks every organ from the lungs to the heart to the brain.

"Being on a ventilator for an extended period of time causes muscle wasting, it affects multiple organ systems," expounded Dr. Niehaus.

A recent study showed a majority of survivors had inflammation in the heart which can lead to cardiac disease and heart failure. Strokes are also a growing concern.

"We're seeing a lot of neurologic damage with people that have had COVID disease and a lot of blood clots," elaborated Dr. Niehaus.

University of Colorado Hospital was one of the first facilities to begin actively rehabbing patients that are still COVID positive. Clarence started his rehab just three days after being off the ventilator.

"We had to kind of bring everything back a step at a time," recalled Troutman.

Five months later, "things are coming around slowly but surely," Troutman concluded.

Hospitals around the country are revamping their rehab procedures … evaluating patients daily, revising how much rehab patients can handle. Some hospitals are using biocontainment units to keep patients from spreading contaminated air.

Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Executive Producer; Marsha Lewis, Field Producer; Rusty Reed, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.

CDC: Virus that Paralyzes Kids Could Return in Fall - WebMD

Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT

Aug. 5, 2020 -- The new coronavirus isn't the only virus to worry about this fall. Doctors are asking parents to keep an eye out for signs of a rare but serious condition that can cause permanent paralysis and breathing problems in children called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.

Since 2014, AFM clusters have popped up every 2 years across the U.S. The last outbreak -- which sickened at least 238 kids -- was in 2018. Doctors who study the spread of disease believe we could see another uptick in AFM cases from August to November this year.

"This means it will be circulating at the same time as flu and other infectious disease, including COVID-19, and could be another outbreak for clinicians, parents, and children to deal with," CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, said in a news briefing on Tuesday.

AFM is associated with a family of viruses called enteroviruses, particularly enteroviruses D68 and A71. Enterovirus D68 -- a cousin of the virus that causes polio -- is thought to be the cause of most cases in the U.S.

The virus attacks -- and ultimately damages -- nerves in the front of the spinal cord that control movement in the arms and legs. A CDC study of cases from 2018 found that more than 90% of patients who got AFM first had fever and cold symptoms about 6 days before they began to have a headache, muscle weakness, and perhaps pain in an affected arm or leg.

"Oftentimes it happens rapidly," says Kevin Messacar, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora who has treated a number of AFM cases.

"So a child will wake up in the morning unable to move an arm or unable to walk due to weakness in the legs. A parent may notice a facial droop, or a child who has a soft voice, or is drooling or having difficulty swallowing. Those are all signs to take a child in immediately to an ER for evaluation," he says.

Redfield said parents should be alert for the signs of AFM, and seek emergency care quickly for children who show any of these signs. He said parents shouldn't be afraid to visit the emergency room, even in the midst of the pandemic.

"AFM can progress quickly," he said. "And patients can become paralyzed over the course of hours or days and require a ventilator to help them breathe."

There's no specific treatment for AFM. Doctors help patients manage symptoms on a case-by-case basis. Physical therapy is often prescribed to help children regain some lost function, but most kids will have permanent deficits as a result.

Why does AFM come back every 2 years? Certain viruses tend to cycle through populations, causing outbreaks when there are enough new, susceptible hosts to strike. Young children tend to be most vulnerable to enteroviruses and AFM. So the condition tends to reappear when there are enough new babies and young children who haven't made any immune protection against these viruses. In the CDC's study, the average patient was just 5 years old. Kids aren't the only ones at risk, though. The oldest patient in the study was 81.

Experts stressed that while it is important to be informed, there's no reason to panic. AFM cases are very rare. Most kids get nothing more than a cold after catching an enterovirus. It could also be that all the mask wearing and social distancing we're doing will have a side benefit: preventing cases of AFM along with COVID-19.

"What we don't know is what effect the measures in place to control the spread of COVID-19 will have on AFM," says Messacar.

"I don't think anyone can predict what's going to happen this year, but we're all trying to be as prepared as we can in case the cases of AFM return," he says.

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