Nearly half of COVID-19 survivors around the world have long-term symptoms after four months, including children and adults, according to a landmark new study.
Researchers at the University of Leicester in England analyzed nearly 200 previous studies of COVID-19 patients, involving nearly 750,000 patients. These patients are distributed all over the world, including hospitalized patients and non-hospitalized patients.
More than 45 percent of study participants still had at least one long-term symptom four months after their initial infection. A quarter of patients reported symptoms of fatigue, and a similar proportion reported pain or discomfort. In addition, less than a quarter of patients reported problems such as sleep disturbances, wheezing and the inability to carry out normal daily activities, the study showed.
Often no clinical abnormalities can be found to explain the symptoms. But many patients who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 have reported certain signs, including changes in lung structure and lung function. Nearly half of the hospitalized patients had abnormalities on CT scans and/or X-ray scans, and nearly a third of the patients had a reduced ability of the lungs to diffuse carbon monoxide.
“Changes in lung function were similar to those experienced by people infected with other viruses, such as SARS and MERS,” the report’s authors wrote.
More than a third of COVID-19 survivors who were not hospitalized had long-term symptoms four months later, the study found.
“The reason why so many patients have prolonged symptoms of COVID-19 remains unknown,” the authors wrote, citing possible causes including organ damage, inflammation, changes in the immune system, and psychological effects.
Studies have found women have a higher rate of long-term COVID-19, but the Leicester study did not find any specific age group or gender experiencing a higher rate of debilitating symptoms. The researchers could not reliably assess the long-term relationship between COVID-19 and race because only a quarter of the studies provided participants’ race or ethnicity.
Nearly 20% of the roughly 50 million adults with COVID-19 in the U.S. report long-term symptoms, according to data collected this summer by the US Census Bureau.
Long-term COVID-19 is roughly defined as symptoms that persist or develop long after recovery from an initial COVID-19 infection, but there is currently no widely accepted uniform definition. Many experts argue that the most plausible definition is a condition that follows COVID-19, a condition similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, similar to other post-viral syndromes that follow infection with herpes, Lyme arthritis disease, or even Ebola. Experts believe that other complications after infection with the new crown, such as organ damage and post-severe treatment syndrome, should not be defined as long-term new crowns. (Fortune Chinese website)
Translated by: Liu Jinlong
Reviewer: Wang Hao
Almost half of COVID survivors globally—both children and adults—have lingering symptoms four months later, according to a landmark new study.
Researchers at the University of Leicester in England performed an analysis of nearly 200 studies of prior COVID patients, involving nearly 750,000 people in all. The patients—some of whom were hospitalized and some of whom weren’t—lived across the globe.
More than 45% of study participants had at least one lingering symptom four months out from their initial infection. A quarter of the patients reported fatigue, and a similar number said they felt pain or discomfort. Meanwhile, sleep issues, breathingmsness, part and problem in normal daily activities were reported in just under a quarter of patients, according to the study.
Often, no clinical abnormalities could be found to explain such symptoms. But some signs were reported in many patients who had been hospitalized with COVID, including changes in lung structure and function. An abnormal CT scan and/or X-rays ly were found in near half of previously hospitalized patients, in addition to a decreased capacity to diffuse carbon monoxide in nearly a third of patients.
“Changes in pulmonary function are similar to those observed following other viral infections including SARS and MERS,” the authors wrote.
When non-hospitalized COVID survivors were singled out, more than a third of them had lingering symptoms at four months, the study found.
“The reasons as to why so many patients are experiencing Long Covid remains unknown,” the authors wrote, adding that possible causes include organ damage, inflammation, altered immune systems, and psychological effects.
While some studies have found a higher rate of long COVID in females, the study out of Leicester didn’t find that any particular age group or gender experienced s of the disabling condition. Researchers weren’t able to reliably assess any potential association with race , as only a quarter of studies examined provided participants race or ethnicity.
Nearly 20% of American adults who’ve had COVID—an estimated 50 million—report having long COVID symptoms, according to data collected by the US Census Bureau this summer.
Long COVID is roughly defined as symptoms that persist or appear long after the initial COVID infection is gone, but a consensus definition has not yet been broadly accepted. Many experts contend that the condition is best defined as a chronic fatigue syndrome-like condition that develops after COVID illness, similar to other post-viral syndromes that can occur after infection with herpes, Lyme disease, and even Ebola. Other post-COVID complications, like organ damage and post-intensive-care syndrome, should not be defined as long COVID , they say.
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