Long Covid could be longer – and more severe –than we thought, study finds

Echo Xie+ myNEWS

Published: 6:00 am, 22 Jan 2023

Lingering symptoms of Covid-19 currently affect 10 percent of patients, researchers say. Photo: AFP

It is estimated that tens of millions of people worldwide are suffering with symptoms that have come to be known as long Covid.

According to a new study by a group of researchers from the United States, the impact of long Covid – or post-Covid conditions (PCC) – may be more severe than earlier thought.

In a review of 200 studies published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Reviews Microbiology on January 13, the team called for more research and care for patients with long Covid symptoms, adding that there was not enough existing research to properly understand or treat the condition.

The review was carried out by two researchers from the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, and two other researchers from the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.

They estimated that 10 percent of the 651 million documented Covid-19 cases around the world – at least 65 million people – have long Covid.

They quoted other studies suggesting that 10 to 30 percent of non-hospitalised coronavirus cases would develop long Covid. The percentage increased to 50 to 70 percent for hospitalised cases.

However, the study did not clarify the definition of long Covid, and some of the findings contradicted those of previous studies.

According to the World Health Organization, PCC is defined as the continuation or development of symptoms that are present three months after a Sars-CoV-2 infection, with symptoms lasting for at least two months that cannot be explained through any other diagnosis.

Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction, which may fluctuate or relapse over time.

In an earlier study that examined data from 1.2 million patients from 22 countries who had Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, an estimated 6.2 percent experienced at least one of the three common long Covid symptoms three months after they were infected.

About 43 percent of patients who were admitted to intensive care units developed long Covid, compared to 27.5 percent of those who were admitted to general hospital wards, and 5.7 percent of those who were not hospitalised.