“This is one of the well-conducted population-level studies that show that we should be very concerned about the current number of acute infections,” said Rehabilitation Innovation Director at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. As one David Putrino said, “We are in trouble.”
Jill Pell, a professor of public health at the University of Glasgow who led the study, stressed that the study revealed the wide-ranging impact of long-term covid on people’s lives. There are many impacts, from employment to schooling to the ability to take care of yourself,” she said.
The paper, published Wednesday in Nature Communications, represents the first findings of an ongoing study of the novel coronavirus. Long-CISS (Covid in Scotland Study).
The range of reported symptoms and inability to provide prognoses for patients has long baffled covid researchers, even as the range of challenges has become clearer.7 million to 23 million Americans — including one million people who can no longer work — are suffering from the long-term effects of the virus. government estimateThese numbers are expected to increase as the covid crisis hits. endemic.
Previous studies have been questioned by the nonspecific nature of long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms common to the general population, such as shortness of breath and fatigue. The Covid in Scotland Study, which included a control group, was able to identify which symptoms were associated with covid.
“People infected with covid were significantly more likely to develop 24 of the 26 symptoms studied compared to the uninfected general population,” she said. were 3.5 times more likely to be short of breath.
Putrino noted that 16-31% of the control group suffered from the same symptoms. This figure is similar to the false-negative rate of PCR testing, suggesting that some of the control group may be infected. Pell agreed that some people who tested negative may have been infected, which helped corroborate the study’s broader findings.
Symptoms of long-distance transporters vary greatly from person to person. In a Scottish study, the most commonly reported symptoms included shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain, “brain fog,” or decreased mental vision.
Symptoms were worst among those who were sick enough to be hospitalized during the acute infection – which does little to allay experts’ concerns.
“It’s always been that people who are more sick are more likely to have long-term sequelae,” Putrino said. “What is frightening is that mild cases far outnumber severe cases, so it is a major public health concern that even a small percentage of mild cases develop long-term sequelae. .”
Putrino also cautioned against assuming that asymptomatic infections are not associated with persistent symptoms.
“I have seen many patients with confirmed asymptomatic cases,” he said. “It happens. Statistically less than symptomatic infected people.”
The study found an increased risk of long-term COVID-19 infection among women, the elderly, and those living in economically disadvantaged areas. People already suffering from physical and mental health problems such as respiratory disease and depression have also become more susceptible to long-term covid.
“Importantly, the study also identified a sub-cohort of 11% who had worsened over time, something that is common in patient groups but not sufficiently discussed in public discourse. ‘ said Hannah Davis, a member of the Patient-Driven Research Consortium, a group of patients who have been involved in long-term novel coronavirus research.
While the survey didn’t reveal anything particularly surprising, Pell said the nationwide design offers a new level of rigor. More than 33,000 of his test-confirmed cases participated, and 62,957 of him who were not infected.
During the pandemic, US experts, including the president’s chief medical adviser, Anthony S. Fauci, regularly turned to UK data. It comes from a nationalized healthcare system and reflects trends across the population.
Using National Health Service records, researchers sent text messages to all adults in Scotland who tested positive for PCR, as well as a group of people who tested negative for covid, inviting them to participate. . Those who chose to enroll completed an online survey question about their pre- and post-infection health status.
“We have access to research data from a single large cohort,” said James Harker, an immunologist at Imperial College London, who is studying the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the lungs. What we can do is very powerful.” U.S. studies primarily have to rely on lower numbers or use several studies to create a meta-analysis, Harker said, which has inherent flaws.
One issue worth further investigation is the degree of protection provided by vaccination, Putrino said. Recent studies show that vaccination reduces the chance of developing long-term covid, but not as much as previously thought.
“This is one of the most important things we need to understand next,” Putrino said.
The Glasgow team, led by Pell, collaborated with Public Health Scotland, the Scottish National Health Service, the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and received funding from the Scottish Government’s Office of Chief Scientists and Public Health Scotland.
researcher Plan additional studies according to pelThe current study followed people at 6, 12 and 18 months after infection. Of those with confirmed COVID, 13% reported some improvement.
“We’re trying to look more closely at changes in these symptoms over time and the factors that are associated with them,” Pell said.
