(This October 13 article has been amended to change the last percentage in paragraph 4 from 39% to 38%.)
Nancy Rapid
(Reuters) – Most COVID-19 patients with lingering symptoms at 12 months of age are likely to still have symptoms at 18 months of age, new data suggests.
The findings are derived from a large study of 33,281 people in Scotland who tested positive for coronavirus. Most of the results are consistent with those of previous small studies.
Among the subset of 197 survivors of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection who completed the study at 12 and 18 months, most reported prolonged symptoms at both time points. The researchers reported to Nature Communications.
At 12 months, 11% did not recover, 51% had partial recovery, and 39% had complete recovery. At 18 months, the rates were 11% no recovery, 51% partial recovery, and 38% complete recovery.
Asymptomatic infections were not associated with long-term COVID. However, of his 31,486 who had symptomatic infections, nearly half reported incomplete recovery between her six and 18 months.
A total of 3,744 participants with symptomatic infections completed two questionnaires in the following years. After 6 months, 8% reported no recovery, 47% reported partial recovery, and 45% reported complete recovery. These rates, he reports, have changed little over 12 months, with 8% reporting no recovery, 46% partial recovery, and 46% complete recovery.
Researchers say 1 in 20 people with symptomatic infections do not report recovery at their most recent follow-up.
“Our study is important for better understanding of the prolongation of COVID-19 in the general population, not just those who require hospitalization for COVID-19,” said study leader Jill Pell of the University of Glasgow. said in a statement. .
Prolonged COVID was more likely in hospitalized patients and in patients who were older, female, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and had pre-existing health conditions. The most common lingering symptoms included shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, confusion, and “brain fog.”
The researchers also found that vaccination before infection appeared to protect against some long-term symptoms.
Researchers also surveyed about 63,000 people who tested negative for COVID alone to distinguish health problems caused by COVID-19 from those expected in the general population.
(Reporting by Nancy Rapid; Editing by Caroline Humer and David Gregorio)
