It is a fact that the COVID-19 vaccines prevent hospitalizations and deaths, but researchers are looking for ways to understand the long-term effects of the disease. Plenty of studies start to show even more than before – what symptoms are most common, and who is more in danger?
A brand new study has taken a look at about 4000 long COVID subjects from 56 countries.
Athena Akrami, one of the authors of the study, stated: “While there has been a lot of public discussion around long COVID, there are few systematic studies investigating this population; hence relatively little is known about its range of symptoms, and their progression over time, the severity, and expected clinical course (longevity), its impact on daily functioning, and expected return to baseline health”.
This study is all about the cases diagnosed early in 2020. All of the patients were older than 18, and they suffered from symptoms at least 28 days. 203 different symptoms were identified – brain fog, reduced exercise capacity and fatigue. They also found bladder issues, sexual dysfunction and shingles.
Akami also stated: “Headaches, insomnia, vertigo, neuralgia, neuropsychiatric changes, tremors, sensitivity to noise and light, hallucinations (olfactory and other), tinnitus, and other sensorimotor symptoms were also all common, and may point to larger neurological issues involving both the central and peripheral nervous system.”
6.8% of the participants had completely recovered by the time the study was done. They did not have symptoms anymore. The others stated that stress or exercise were the sources of symptom relapses.
The study does not show how common the condition is. It did show that patients suffering from five or more symptoms in the first week of infection would suffer from long COVID. Gender or age is not important.
