COVID-19 Disability

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

According to a Johns Hopkins expert on lung disease, COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, can cause lasting lung damage in at least three ways.

COVID-19 can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a form of lung failure, where patients are often unable to breath on their own and may require ventilator support to help circulate oxygen in the body. People who survive ARDS and recover from COVID-19 may have lasting pulmonary scarring.

COVID-19 can also lead to sepsis when an infection spreads through the bloodstream, causing tissue damage everywhere it goes. Sepsis, even when survived, can leave a patient with lasting damage to the lungs and other organs.

Because COVID-19 makes the immune system work hard to fight it, COVID-19 leaves the person more vulnerable to a different disease, which can result in additional lung damage. Permanent lung damage can adversely affect the ability to work. Like any chronic lung disease, the after effects of COVID-19 can result in severe fatigue that precludes even the easiest full time work.

If you suffer from a respiratory or lung disease, whether it’s COVID-19 related or not, and you are unable to work, please feel free to contact my office for a free phone consultation.

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