Even mild illness from Covid-19 can lead to serious and long-lasting health effects. This is one of the findings of an international study on Long Covid recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to this, 90% of people suffering from Long Covid had only mild symptoms of the disease after the original infection. However, her Long Covid symptoms matched the typical signs of the disease, such as persistent fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive issues such as mental confusion. All these symptoms have a serious impact on health, everyday life and professional life.
One in seven has had symptoms for a year
Long Covid is defined as the continuation or development of symptoms three months after the initial infection with SARS-CoV-2 – if they last at least two months. The current meta-study analyzed 54 studies with data on more than one million people from 22 countries who had symptoms of Covid-19 and some developed Long Covid. Nearly one in seven in the study still had symptoms a year after the onset of Long Covid.
Those who needed hospital treatment for the original Covid-19 infection were at higher risk of long-term covid compared to those who were not hospitalized. However, as the vast majority of Covid-19 cases do not require hospitalization, many other Covid-19 cases have arisen from milder cases despite their lower risk.
The study also shows that women are twice as likely to develop long-term Covid-19 than men and four times more than children. Many of those affected are adults of working age – they are often out of work for months and unable to adequately fulfill care obligations.
Until now, the question of why some people develop Long Covid and others have not been adequately answered.