Tens of millions of people worldwide suffered from long COVID after recovering from their initial COVID-19 infection. But how long these symptoms can last has remained unclear.
In a study from KI Research Institute in Israel, scientists found that most symptoms from long COVID disappear within a year in people who had mild COVID-19 infections.
They analyzed the medical records of nearly two million people of all ages who tested for COVID positive between March 2020 and October 2021.
The findings covered the earlier COVID variants including Delta, but not the more recently discovered Omicron variants.
The researchers examined more than 70 different symptoms that have been linked to long COVID.
They found for the mild infection cases, there was a strongly increased risk of several conditions, including loss of smell and taste, breathing problems, weakness, palpitations, strep throat, dizziness, and concentration and memory impairment commonly called “brain fog”.
But the good news is most symptoms cleared up within 12 months.
The team says there is a small number of people still suffering from shortness of breath or weakness for a year after COVID.
They also found that vaccinated people had a lower risk of breathing problems—the most common symptom—compared to unvaccinated cases.
Children had fewer health problems than adults and recovered from most of them well within a year.
Researchers say that these findings may help clear up fears about how long the long COVID symptoms could linger.
The team hopes the research would help lower uncertainty for doctors trying to figure out if their patients’ symptoms are related to COVID.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about the cause of long COVID ‘brain fog’, and many people older than 50 get shingles after COVID-19 infection.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about plant nutrients that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The study was conducted by Maytal Bivas-Benita et al and published in the journal BMJ.
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