The Relationship between COVID-19 and Pulmonary Fibrosis After of Infection in AL-Najaf Province, Iraq

. Background and Purpose: A significant part of the "post-acute COVID-19 syndrome" that may significantly aggravate patients' clinical history is pulmonary fibrosis (PF), a pathological result of chronic and acute interstitial lung illnesses linked to impaired wound repair. Despite being inconclusive, the information that is currently available suggests that more than a third of COVID-19 hospital pa- tients experience aberrant lung fibrosis after leaving the hospital. The current study's goal is to ascer- tain if pulmonary fibrosis and COVID-19 susceptibility are related. Material and Method: The Al-Amal Hospital provided data on coronavirus infections. Regarding Pulmonary Fibrosis, Age, and Gender in the Najaf Province in 2022. The results were evaluated using the Statistical Analysis System applica- tion's Chi-squared test (SPSS). Results: In the study results of our study were as follows, where it was found that (11.21%) of the total patients in the age group 18-25 are prone to suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, while (20%) of the age group were 25-36, and also found that (29.08%, 45.74% and 31.19%) for the following age groups, respectively: 36-47y, 47-57y and 57-67y. Finally, it was found that 117 (26.77%) patients out of 320 suffer from pulmonary fibrosis symptoms of the age group 67-77 years, where it formed a significant difference compared with the rest of the age groups. Conclusion: There is a link between infection with COVID 19 and pulmonary fibrosis, among other conditions. However, our study shows that severe COVID-19 is linked with considerable respiratory symptoms and morbidity, in- cluding dyspnea, which was reported by many survivors. There is an urgent need for more research to understand the connection more generally and to identify therapies that might help prevent similar lung infections in the future.