Reduced maximal aerobic capacity after COVID-19 in young adult recruits, Switzerland, May 2020

Euro Surveill. 2020 Sep;25(36):2001542. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.36.2001542.

Abstract

In March 2020, we observed an outbreak of COVID-19 among a relatively homogenous group of 199 young (median age 21 years; 87% men) Swiss recruits. By comparing physical endurance before and in median 45 days after the outbreak, we found a significant decrease in predicted maximal aerobic capacity in COVID-19 convalescent but not in asymptomatically infected and SARS-CoV-2 naive recruits. This finding might be indicative of lung injury after apparently mild COVID-19 in young adults.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; lung injury; physical endurance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asymptomatic Infections
  • Betacoronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Convalescence
  • Coronavirus / genetics
  • Coronavirus / isolation & purification*
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Exercise / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lung Injury / etiology*
  • Male
  • Military Personnel
  • Oxygen Consumption*
  • Pandemics
  • Physical Endurance / immunology
  • Physical Endurance / physiology*
  • Physical Fitness
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology
  • Pulmonary Ventilation / physiology*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Risk Factors
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Switzerland / epidemiology
  • Young Adult