Any studies like this in the US? The one in the article is for Israeli residents.
Although wondering if doctors network on this and report patients experiencing recurring symptoms to a global or national database. I know my pulmonologist was careful to note down all the details- when I had covid and what my symptoms were, any colds/respiratory viruses I experienced after that that could have worsened my condition, etc.
The Israeli report was much earlier in the pandemic, and referred to those who had been severely ill and hospitalized, so the expectation is that lung effects would be less common among those who had milder cases. Here's a more recent summary of respiratory effects, from a hospital system in Cincinnati, and includes this encouraging paragraph:
Can lung damage from this virus be reversed in any way? How likely is an infected person able to recover and regain lung function?Current treatments are effective in reducing the amount of initial damage, reducing the severity, aimed at reducing the amount of propagating injury and the duration. Depending on the severity of respiratory inflammation and damage, as well as patient comorbidities, duration of injury and genetics, patients can see improvement in their lung function. Analogous to having pneumonia, over time, patients’ lung function can recover. Looking at previous experience with SARS and MERS coronaviruses, studies following patients after developing pulmonary fibrosis showed that pulmonary lesions diminished primarily in the first year after recovery. In cases of severe inflammation, the challenge is with the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Chronic inflammation has been considered as the main cause of pulmonary fibrosis and may lead to epithelial damage and fibroblast activation. Studies are ongoing that test antifibrotic agents.
https://www.uchealth.com/en/media-room/covid-19/short-and-long-term-lung-damage-from-covid-19Re: Is anyone in USA studying long-term effects of Covid on the lungs, I am sure that the answer is yes, because, basically, that's what doctors/scientists like to do - research something important. We had discussed earlier these studies were starting on long-term effects in general (not just on respiratory system):
Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC has set up a center to address these issues:
https://www.mountsinai.org/about/covid19/center-post-covid-care
This article mentions similar programs at Yale, Hopkins and "elsewhere".
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/health/coronavirus-recovery-survivors.html