US study finds one in 10 gets long Covid after Omicron, looks at key symptoms

About 10 per cent of radical look to endure agelong Covid aft an Omicron infection, a little estimation than earlier successful the pandemic, according to a survey of astir 10,000 Americans that aims to assistance unravel the mysterious condition.

Early findings from the National Institutes of Health’s survey item a twelve symptoms that astir separate agelong Covid, the catchall word for the sometimes debilitating wellness problems that tin past for months oregon years aft adjacent a mild lawsuit of Covid-19.

Millions worldwide person had agelong Covid, with dozens of wide varying symptoms including fatigue and encephalon fog. Scientists inactive don’t cognize what causes it, wherefore it lone strikes immoderate people, however to dainty it - oregon adjacent however to champion diagnose it. Better defining the information is cardinal for probe to get those answers.

“Sometimes I perceive radical say, ‘Oh, everybody’s a small tired,’” said Dr Leora Horwitz of NYU Langone Health, 1 of the survey authors. “No, there’s thing antithetic astir radical who person agelong Covid and that’s important to know.”

The caller research, published connected Friday successful the Journal of the American Medical Association, includes much than 8600 adults who had Covid-19 astatine antithetic points successful the pandemic, comparing them to different 1100 who hadn’t been infected.

By immoderate estimates, astir 1 successful 3 Covid-19 patients person experienced agelong Covid. That’s akin to NIH survey participants who reported getting sick earlier the Omicron variant began spreading successful the US successful December 2021. That’s besides erstwhile the survey opened, and researchers noted that radical who already had agelong Covid symptoms mightiness person been much apt to enrol.

But astir 2230 patients had their archetypal coronavirus corruption aft the survey started, allowing them to study symptoms successful existent clip – and lone astir 10 per cent experienced semipermanent symptoms aft six months.

Prior probe has suggested the hazard of agelong Covid has dropped since Omicron appeared; its descendants are inactive spreading.

The bigger question is however to place and assistance those who already person agelong Covid.

The caller survey zeroed successful connected a twelve symptoms that whitethorn assistance specify agelong Covid: fatigue; encephalon fog; dizziness; gastrointestinal symptoms; bosom palpitations; intersexual problems; nonaccomplishment of odor oregon taste; thirst; chronic cough; thorax pain; and worsening symptoms aft enactment and abnormal movements.

The researchers assigned scores to the symptoms, seeking to found a threshold that could yet assistance guarantee akin patients are enrolled successful studies of imaginable agelong Covid treatments, arsenic portion of the NIH survey oregon elsewhere, for apples-to-apples comparison.

Horwitz stressed that doctors shouldn’t usage that database to diagnose idiosyncratic with agelong Covid — it’s a imaginable probe instrumentality only. Patients whitethorn person 1 of those symptoms, oregon galore – oregon different symptoms not connected the database — and inactive beryllium suffering semipermanent consequences of the coronavirus.

Everyone’s doing studies of agelong Covid yet “we don’t adjacent cognize what that means”, Horwitz said.