01/6Do you have a long COVID?
A giant new research analyzing nearly 200 studies of prior COVID patients globally has found that almost half of COVID survivors—both children and adults—continue to experience lingering symptoms even four months after their initial infection.
This analysis by researchers at the University of Leicester in England involved nearly 750,000 people in all. Some of these patients were hospitalized from a severe COVID infection, and some weren’t.
02/6THESE symptoms lingered
More than 45% of the study participants had at least one lingering symptom. A quarter of the COVID patients reported fatigue, and a similar number said they felt pain or discomfort. Other reported symptoms that lasted even for four months include sleep issues, breathlessness, and problems participating in daily activities.
03/6What is long COVID?
Long COVID happens when COVID symptoms persist long after the initial infection is gone.
Many experts say that long COVID is best defined as a condition like chronic fatigue syndrome, that develops after COVID illness. This is similar to other post-viral syndromes that may occur after infection with herpes, Lyme disease, and Ebola.
Post-COVID complications such as organ damage should not be defined as long COVID, experts say.
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04/6Experts are still not sure why symptoms linger
Some clinical abnormalities reported in many patients who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 include changes in lung structure and function. However, no clinical abnormalities could be found to explain the long COVID symptoms for certain.
“The reasons as to why so many patients are experiencing long COVID remains unknown,” the authors wrote. Possible causes for lingering symptoms even after the initial infection is gone include organ damage, inflammation, altered immune systems, and psychological effects.
05/6Who is at more risk?
Some studies have found a higher rate of long COVID in females, however, this study didn’t find that any particular age group, gender or race experienced higher rates of the disabling condition. Only a quarter of studies examined provided participants’ race or ethnicity.
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06/6How do these findings help?
The researchers note that “harmonization of data collection tools will be fundamental to improving the clinical utility of findings from systematic reviews of Long COVID.”
Given the high prevalence of lingering COVID symptoms after 12 weeks (nearly 1 in 2 people), healthcare services and policy need to prioritize Long COVID care, they add.
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