The latest studies show you have a higher risk of developing dangerous blood clots when you fly if you’ve recently recovered from Covid-19. And if the blood clots travel to your lungs, they can be fatal. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself
Flying off on holiday, or for work is not the same today. The pandemic has changed everything. And some experts fear that as more Singaporeans return to traveling long-distance, we’ll see more dangerous blood clots forming deep inside the legs.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is when a blood clot forms in a blood vessel deep inside your body, far away from your skin, that carries blood toward your heart. This mainly happens in your legs and pelvis. It can also happen in your arms, though not nearly as often.
If part of the clot breaks off and travels to the lungs, it can cause a sudden blockage of the arteries in the lung, or what’s called Pulmonary Embolism (PE). This can be fatal. Some 4-14 per cent of people with DVT are at risk of dying of PE.
We’ve known for a while that blood clots are more common in passengers who’ve taken long-haul flights. Long-haul passengers are three times more at risk for blood clots for several weeks after their flight, compared to the rest of the population, with two to 10 per cent of passengers showing signs within 48 hours of landing.
And now it turns out that the risk of DVT thus increases significantly for passengers who have been infected with COVID-19 and then recover, and take a long-haul flight, or even a series of short flights.
A study from Sweden found an increased risk of DVT up to three months after a COVID-19 infection, and a higher risk of PE up to six months after.
Researchers also found that patients with even mild COVID-19 – who were not hospitalised – were still at an increased risk of DVT and PE. But risks were highest in patients who were infected with more severe COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, compared to the second and third waves.
Fortunately, there are ways to assess if you are at an increased risk of DVT before your flight, and there are ways to prevent blood clots from forming while you are traveling. To find out more, we spoke with Dr Sriram Narayanan, Senior Consultant Vascular Surgeon, The Harley Street Heart & Vascular Centre;