Lung damage due to Covid 19

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

shoredivr

Contributor
Messages
9,728
Reaction score
11,325
Location
Ontario
# of dives
1000 - 2499
1F86483B-C39A-4965-9784-6DDF8FF7CFCA.jpeg
 
0EF2E292-6F25-4821-A89C-9AC78086E009.jpeg
 
B9C6DBF2-2B8A-46DF-82A5-C876A49CE830.jpeg
 
6CB1344A-88DC-4300-89FB-FE66A117DBC9.jpeg
 
There seems to be a fund raiser for a joint investigation by DAN and DDM into the effects of covid 19 on divers but I can find no other info on the actual research that is being done...

1587420742.jpg

ILLUSTRATION BY DELANEY GRAY


“After three hugely successful years raising money for breast cancer research and survivor support via the Think Pink Photo Competition, Dive into the Pink has decided to replace this year’s contest in light of the global coronavirus pandemic.

The Share Our Air Virtual Dive and Imaging Competition aims to support a comprehensive investigation on the effect COVID-19 infection has on lung function in divers, to be pursued by Duke Dive Medicine and Divers Alert Network (DAN).”

Launching Soon: Share Our Air Virtual Dive and Imaging Competition

https://www.diveintothepink.org/sharing-air
 
There are no formal plans for research at present, though it would be interesting to gather data on divers who have had COVID-19. At present, our advice for any diver who has recovered from COVID-19 is to be examined by a physician trained in diving medicine prior to resuming diving.

Best regards,
DDM
 
I would not recommend making any firm conclusions or recommendations based on short term results of six divers. I would especially refrain from using terms like "the damage to the lungs is irreversible" when they have only had a few weeks of follow-up.

Apparently, from what I can gleam from the English translation, two divers had exercise induced hypoxemia while two others had exercise induced reactive airway disease. They say four STILL had significant changes on CT scanning implying that they were sick enough at one time, though apparently not hospitalized, that a physician had ordered a previous CT scan. Finally, any conclusions regarding the effects of increased partial pressures of oxygen in divers who have suffered COVID-19 is purely speculative.

I would recommend taking the above information with a "grain of salt" for now while awaiting further data. It is definitely interesting and is thought provoking. We just need to wait for larger, more controlled studies with longer follow up before becoming overly concerned.

If a diver had a mild case of COVID-19 and is now back to jogging 5 miles per day without issues, they can probably return to diving without restrictions or further testing. However, if a diver had a prolonged ICU stay from the infection, especially if they required intubation, maybe they should have follow up CT scans showing resolution of the changes and maybe even pulmonary function testing prior to resuming diving. Only time -- and, more importantly, DATA will tell. The Belgian Hyperbaric Medical Society has released some recommendations which are similar to what I stated above. Hopefully, organizations like UHMS and SPUMS will provide some guidance as well.

As DDM mentioned above, the best advice at the moment is for any diver who has had a symptomatic case of of COVID-19 to be examined by a physician with diving knowledge prior to resuming diving.
 
This is a very interesting and evolving topic. I wonder if Navy has or will have some data on this since they have experienced a significant outbreak.
 
He lost me at irreversibility......
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom