Study: 1 in 10 people suffer long-term effects of COVID if infected by Omicron variant

2023-05-26 22:10:07, Shëndeti CNA

Study: 1 in 10 people suffer long-term effects of COVID if infected by Omicron

According to a recent study involving about 10,000 Americans, about 10% of patients appear to suffer the effects of COVID for a long time after infection with the omicron variant, an estimate lower than during the pandemic.

The first findings from the National Institutes of Health study highlight dozens of symptoms for patients suffering from so-called 'long-term COVID,' a term that categorizes debilitating health conditions that can last for months, or even years.

Millions of people around the world have experienced long-term consequences of COVID, with dozens of different symptoms including fatigue and lack of concentration and mental clarity. Scientists still don't know what causes it, why it only affects some people, how to treat it, or even how best to diagnose it.

Better definition is essential for research teams to answer these questions.

" Sometimes I hear people say , ' Oh, everyone's a little tired, '" said Dr. Leora Horwtz of NYU Langone Health, one of the study's authors. " No, there's something different about people who suffer from COVID for a long time and this is important to know. "

The new research, published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, included more than 8,600 adults who contracted COVID-19 at different times of the pandemic, comparing them to 1,100 others who were not infected.

According to some estimates, approximately 1 in 3 patients with COVID-19 have outlived COVID with long-term consequences. The figure is similar to participants in the National Institutes of Health study who reported getting sick before the omicron variant began spreading in the US in December 2021.

But about 2,230 patients became infected with the coronavirus for the first time after the study began, allowing them to report symptoms in real time, and only about 10% experienced long-term symptoms after six months.

Previous research had suggested that the risk of suffering from long-term effects of COVID decreased since omicron appeared; its subvariants continue to proliferate.

The most important question is how to identify and help patients who are already suffering from COVID with long-term consequences.

The new study found a dozen symptoms that can help identify this form of COVID, such as: fatigue, lack of concentration, dizziness, digestive system problems, heart palpitations, sexual problems, loss of smell or taste, thirst, chronic cough, chest pain, worsening of symptoms after physical activity.

Ms. Horwitz emphasized that doctors should not use this list of symptoms to diagnose a patient suffering from long-term consequences of COVID, the list is only a possible research tool. Patients can have one of those symptoms, or many - or other symptoms not on the list - and still suffer the long-term consequences of the coronavirus.