新冠肺炎痊癒後會出現疲勞感?

Most people experience Covid-19 as a short-term illness: once the infection has been fought off, they bounce back to health. But evidence is emerging of a significant minority – sometimes referred to as "long haulers" – who struggle with long-term symptoms for a month or longer.

大多數感染新冠病毒的人都是經歷了一場小病：一旦病毒被擊退，他們很快就恢復了健康。然而新的證據顯示，少部分人——有時被稱爲“打持久戰的人”——會出現長期的症狀，可能持續一個月，也可能更長。

Anecdotal reports have abounded of people left with fatigue, aching muscles and difficulty concentrating. Online support groups on Facebook and Slack have sprung up, already hosting thousands of members who say they have not got better.

有零星報告講述了許多痊癒後感到乏力、肌肉痠痛和難以集中注意力的人。臉書和Slack上興起了在線支持小組，已經有數千名沒有好轉的人加入。

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Matt Hancock said it was difficult to gauge the scale of the problem. "This is a really serious problem for a minority of people who have Covid," the health secretary said. "Some people have long-term effects that look like a post-viral fatigue syndrome."

英國衛生大臣馬特·漢考克週日（7月5日）在BBC的安德魯·馬爾秀上告訴主持人說，這個問題難以估量。漢考克說：“對於感染過新冠病毒的一小部分人，這是一個很嚴重的問題。新冠病毒在一些人身上留下了長期的影響，感覺像是病毒後疲勞綜合徵。”

Scientists are only just beginning to investigate the potential causes of enduring fatigue, but say that there are likely to be a wide variety of reasons why some people face a longer road to recovery.

科學家纔剛開始調查持續性疲勞感的潛在原因，不過他們表示，有些人康復期更長可能有各種各樣的原因。

"Fatigue itself will take on lots of different guises," said Chris Brightling, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Leicester, who is leading a newly announced 8.4m pounds study of the long-term health impacts of Covid-19.

萊斯特大學呼吸醫學教授克里斯·布萊特靈說：“疲勞會以多種不同假象出現。”英國新公佈了一個研究新冠病毒對健康長期影響的項目，布萊特靈是這項耗資840萬英鎊（約合人民幣7404萬元）研究的領頭人。

A report published in February by the World Health Organization, based on preliminary data, suggested that in mild cases the median recovery time from Covid-19 is roughly two weeks from the onset of symptoms, and in severe or critical cases about three to six weeks. However, some of those who appear to have only mild illness initially also end up wrestling with symptoms, including fatigue, that linger for weeks or months.

世界衛生組織二月份發佈的一份基於初步數據的報告顯示，新冠肺炎輕症患者的中位康復時間爲出現症狀後兩週左右，重症患者的康復時間約爲3到6周。但是，有些最初症狀看似輕微的患者最後卻出現了持續數週或數月的症狀，包括疲勞乏力。

Those who have suffered severe illness in the acute phase, including admission to intensive care, typically experience muscle loss, which can result in direct physical fatigue. Others are left with lung damage, including scarring that can cause breathlessness, leaving people feeling tired. There are other physical effects that are less clearly understood – the disease is known to cause blood clots in the lungs and other parts of the body – and neurological symptoms ranging from stroke to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.

那些在急性期發展成重症的患者，包括進入重症監護室的人，通常會經歷肌肉流失，而這將直接導致身體疲勞。其他人則受到了肺部損傷，包括導致喘不上氣的創傷，這也會讓人感覺疲勞。還有其他了解的沒有那麼清楚的身體影響——目前已知新冠肺炎會導致肺部和身體其他部位出現血栓——還有中風、焦慮和抑鬱等情緒紊亂的神經症狀。

"How common each of those things are, we simply don't have good information," said Brightling.

布萊特靈說：“這些症狀有多普遍，我們還沒有掌握充分的信息。”

There is previous evidence linking Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) to infectious outbreaks, including Epstein-Barr virus and Q fever. A study of people infected during the 2003 Sars outbreak revealed that almost a third had a reduced tolerance to exercise many months later, despite having normal lung function.

先前的證據曾將慢性疲勞綜合徵和人類皰疹病毒第四型和Q熱等傳染病暴發聯繫在一起。一項對2003年非典感染者的研究揭示，近三分之一的人在肺功能恢復正常數月後，對鍛鍊的承受力降低了。

Brightling's study will track around 10,000 patients who were admitted to hospital with Covid-19. This will allow scientists to assess what proportion of patients end up with which long-term health impacts, and what the risk factors are for different symptoms. This could help pave the way to better treatments and medical support for those who are left struggling months after initially becoming ill.

布萊特靈的研究將追蹤因新冠肺炎而入院的1萬名患者。這將讓科學家可以評估留下長期後遺症的患者佔據多大比例，以及不同症狀的風險因素。這將有助於爲那些染病後症狀持續數月的患者提供更好的治療和醫療支持掃清障礙。

Figuring out how Covid-19 triggers fatigue symptoms could also offer new insights into some of the ways that chronic fatigue can occur more generally. "One of the big challenges is that there's so much that we don't yet understand," said Brightling. "People who specialise in fatigue are seeing people with multiple reasons why they've ended up at that point."

查明新冠病毒如何引發疲勞症狀也可以爲長期疲勞普遍發作的一些方式提供新見解。布萊特靈說：“一個較大的挑戰是我們還不理解的東西太多了。專門研究疲勞症狀的人對於患者爲何會感到疲勞能給出多種原因。”

In this case, he said, because the trigger for fatigue is known, there is a better chance of understanding what is happening in the body. "It gives you a way of trying to unravel that puzzle," said Brightling.

布萊特靈指出，在這種情況下，由於瞭解了疲勞的誘因，就能夠更好地理解身體裏在發生什麼。他表示：“這爲你提供瞭解開謎團的一種辦法。”