Covid-19 can damage both lungs and cause bilateral pneumonia

Critically ill patients with coronavirus infection are at increased risk of bilateral pneumonia

Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

The severe patients Covid-19  usually develop bilateral pneumonia. That was the case of Mauro Viale, who died this Sunday of a  thrombosis  that caused a massive heart attack at the Los Arcos sanatorium in Palermo, where he was admitted to the hospital after contracting coronavirus and suffering from bilateral pneumonia.

"Bilateral pneumonia is caused by the direct involvement of the virus in the lung cell ," clarifies Ricardo Teijeiro, infectious disease doctor at the Pirovano Hospital and member of the Argentine Society of Infectology (SADI). The expert explained that the virus has the characteristic of "taking bilaterally, that is, both lungs, causing destruction of cells" and that the magnitude of pneumonia depends on the patient's response.

"The obstruction of the lung parenchyma means that the blood and cells cannot be oxygenated," observes the doctor. That is, the part of the membrane that produces the exchange of oxygen with the carbon dioxide that must be eliminated, generates a difficulty in oxygenate.

 

Photo: AP / Francisco Seco

Symptoms of a bilateral pneumonia

The type of symptoms depends on the degree of aggression. It can range from mild, with little shortness of breath and a dry cough, generally without a cold, to severe, such as oxygen deficiency . This pathology also implies the presence of fever.

"Obviously, the elderly or patients with chronic respiratory diseases, chronic bronchitis, COPD , smokers and severe asthmatics have more complications, because their lung is less defended," says Teijero, who observes that 90% of young people evolve in a positive.

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The infectologist insists that the evaluation of the disease must always be done by a doctor and warns: "Early diagnosis is extremely important, because it allows immediate assistance, and that marks the evolution of the patient."

 

Photo: AP / Brian Inganga

When Covid-19 affects the lungs

In mild cases of coronavirus, the compromise is generally of the airways with a sore throat , lack of smell and fever. Even some patients are asymptomatic.

In contrast, as the disease progresses in severity, the cases begin to affect the lower airways and present lung involvement. "Due to its characteristics, it is rare for this virus to affect a single lung," says Lautaro De Vedia, former president of SADI and infectious disease physician at Hospital Muñiz. The specialist details that other types of pneumonia, such as that caused by the pneumococcal bacteria, are generally unilateral and affect a single lobe of a lung.

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Photo: AP / Andre Penner, file

"The Covid is almost always bilateral, but of course it depends on the intensity of the affectation, be it mild, moderate or severe." If the disease is moderate, oxygen is required and, when it is severe, the patient is admitted to intensive therapy with a ventilator.

De Vedia reports that research throughout the pandemic did not show that there is a treatment for this pathology, although the use of corticosteroids has been shown to be effective.