Millions of Americans still experience COVID-19 symptoms months after recovering from the infection, a new study indicates.
Researchers found that nearly one-third of patients reported at least one persistent symptom of the disease.
What’s more, the most common effects were fatigue and the inability to taste or smell, affecting at least more than 10 percent of people in the US. six months later.
The team, from the University of Washington, in Seattle, says patients known as ‘long-distance COVID’ can occur in not only those admitted to the hospital, but also among those with mild symptoms, and more research is needed on which is done to improve their quality of life.
Of the 30% of patients with COVID-19 who reported at least one persistent symptom, the most common ‘long-range’ symptoms were fatigue and loss of sense of smell or taste, which were reported by 13.6% of patients each (above ) has been reported.
Many said they still had symptoms six months or more after symptoms (above), and 30% reported a poorer quality of life
For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, the team looked at 234 patients at the University of Washington.
A total of 177 tested positive for the virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, and have since recovered from the infection while 21 patients were on healthy control.
Participants were contacted between August and November 2020 and those who had had coronavirus were asked to complete a single follow-up questionnaire between three and nine months after they first had symptoms.
Of the COVID-19 patients, the majority – 84.7 percent – experienced moderate symptoms, with 6.2 percent asymptomatic and nine percent with moderate or serious illnesses requiring hospitalization.
Overall, 30 percent of patients reported at least one persistent symptom.
With a total of 27.8 million confirmed cases in the US, this could mean that as many as 8.3 million people in the US are experiencing the same thing.
Among them, 49 out of 150 patients who had mild or no symptoms, or 32.7 percent, reported it, as did five of the 16 hospitalized patients, or 31.3 percent.
The most common persistent symptoms were fatigue and loss of sense of smell or taste, which were reported in 13.6 percent of patients each.
Most said it occurs as long as six months after recovery.
In March, the American Academy of Otolaryngology called on the CDC to add anosmia – the inability to smell – to its list of possible signs of coronavirus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said at the time that it was investigating a possible link between the two, but evidence was preliminary.
Now, many patients who have recovered say that none of these senses returned months later, or that they were very muffled.
Some say they can not have things like perfume or fire, and that some of their favorite foods, like pizza, now taste like ‘cardboard’.
Researchers say they do not know when some COVID-19 survivors will regain their senses or recover their symptoms.
The study found that another 13 percent reported other symptoms, such as brain fog, muscle and body pain, and breathing problems.
What’s more 30.7 percent, out of 51 patients, reported poorer health-related quality of life due to their persistent symptoms.
Of the group, 7.9 percent reported negative effects for at least one daily activity, especially household chores.
‘With [millions of] cases worldwide, even a small incidence of long-term weakness can have enormous health and economic consequences, ‘the study’s authors write.
‘Our research indicates that the health consequences of COVID-19 go far beyond acute infection, even among those who experience mild illness.
“Extensive long-term research is needed to fully understand the impact of this evolving viral pathogen.”
