Although most patients with Covid-19 may have mild or no symptoms, those who are ill enough to be hospitalized often have fever, cough, or shortness of breath that lasts for 2 weeks or longer. 

Fever: A Chinese study ¹ involving 137 successfully discharged hospitalized patients reported that fever (37.3° C or 99.1° F or higher) lasted a median of 12 days (range 8-13 days). It’s important to point out that nearly one-quarter of these patients were also placed on corticosteroids during their hospitalization which might have resulted in the resolution of fever sooner and therefore altered the “natural course” of Covid-19.  In a smaller study from Singapore² involving generally less ill hospitalized patients, fever didn’t usually last as long (median 4 days, range 0-15 days). 

Cough/shortness of breath: Cough may last nearly 3 weeks (median 19 days) while shortness of breath can go on for about 2 weeks (median 13 days).¹

All symptoms: Even among those who are less ill and do not require supplemental oxygen, it may take nearly 2 weeks (median 12 days, range 5-24 days) for all the Covid-19-related symptoms (defined as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, sore throat, diarrhea, and rhinorrhea) to resolve.² 

It goes without saying that recovery from Covid-19 among hospitalized patients may be slow. In a Seattle study³ involving hospitalized patients who were admitted to the ICU, the median duration on the ventilator was 10 days (IQR 7-12 days), and the median length of hospital stay was 17 days (IQR 16-23 days).

Hopefully, as we find effective anti-Covid-19 drugs, the duration of these symptoms and length of hospitalization can be significantly reduced. Stay tuned!

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References

1. Zhou F, Yu T, Du R, et al. Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COCID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet 2020;395:1054-62. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30566-3/fulltext
2. Young BE, Ong SWX, Kalimuddin S, et al. Epidemiologic features and clinical course of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore. JAMA 2020; March 3, 2020 (corrected March 20). https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762688
3. Bhatraju PK, Ghassemieh BJ, Nichols M, et al. Covid-19 in critically ill patients in the seattle region—Case series. N Engl J Med 2020; March 30. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2004500

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