CHANDIGARH: Most of the Covid patients with mild to moderate infection have been found to have a new onset of endocrine dysfunction following Covid-19 infection. This has been published as a observational study in international journal ‘Frontiers in endocrinology’.

Prof. Sanjay Kumar Bhadada, head of the department of endocrinology at the PGIMER and co-author, said, “Consecutive patients (n=84) admitted at the dedicated Covid-19 care centre at PGIMER were enrolled in the study. Patients were divided into two groups depending on disease severity and co-morbidities. As many as 42% had moderate-to-severe disease, including those with low oxygen saturation (<94%) i.e. hypoxia or chronic co-morbidities. The rest 58% had mild disease (no hypoxia or co-morbidities). Hypertension (45.7%) and diabetes (33.3%) were the most common comorbidities, followed by malignancy, chronic liver or kidney disease, and chronic pulmonary disease.”

Sharing about the inferences, Dr. Liza Das, research scientist from the department of endocrinology, said, “We found that patients with severe Covid-19 had more frequent as well as severe hormonal dysfunction. All patterns of thyroid dysfunction (either secondary hypothyroidism, sick euthyroid syndrome or atypical thyroiditis) were more common in those with severe Covid-19. Though sick euthyroid syndrome does not usually need treatment, both secondary hypothyroidism and thyroiditis need follow-up and timely management. Low cortisol and testosterone were also more common in those with severe Covid-19.”