For the survivors of COVID-19, the battle may be far from over.

According to some experts, there could be several neurological complications that post COVD-19 patients experience such as fatigue, dizziness, headache, and loss of taste and smell.

Neurohospitalists at St. Joseph’s Health Care say on the non-neurological side, patients experience things like respiratory problems, shortness of breath, and clotting.

These clotting issues can lead to stroke in high-risk patients, such as those with diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Younger patients are also being impacted.

“Hospitals in New York reported that younger patients that are between the ages of 30 to 60 years of age were coming in with quite devastating strokes, and these patients did not have any risk factors for stroke,” said Dr. Fahed Saada, a Neurohospitalist with the Department of Neurology at St. Josephs Health.

Dr. Chelsea Yager, another Neurohospitalist with the department, said it’s surprising to see the virus impact people that don’t necessarily have risk factors.

“Research is being done right now to identify how we can predict who those people may be, that may have this adverse reaction of inflammation as a result from COVID,” Yager said.  

The rate of post-COVID stroke is about 1.6%, so it’s not extremely common. However, experts say if you do have any symptoms of stroke such as slurred speech, facial asymmetry, or visual problems, you should seek medical attention immediately.