We all know COVID-19, the illness that has affected the world in big ways for a few years now. It’s caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2.
People who get this sickness can have different symptoms. They may have a fever, cough, or feel very tired. Most people recover after a few weeks.
But some people continue to have problems even after they’re no longer sick with the virus. We call this condition “long COVID.”
What is Long COVID?
“Long COVID” is like an annoying guest who doesn’t leave your house even after the party is over. It’s when people feel sick for a long time after they first caught the COVID-19 virus.
They may feel very tired, have a foggy brain, or other symptoms. It’s a bit of a mystery because doctors and scientists are still trying to figure out exactly why it happens and how to treat it.
Studying Long COVID
Some clever people from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a big health research organization in America, decided to study long COVID.
They looked at around 10,000 American adults who had been sick with COVID-19.
Some got sick early in the pandemic, others later when the Omicron variant was spreading. They compared them with people who never got the virus.
When Did People Get Sick?
The NIH study started in December 2021, when the Omicron variant began to spread in the U.S. This is important because the type of COVID-19 virus people had might affect whether they get long COVID.
Earlier in the pandemic, before Omicron, about 1 in 3 people who got COVID-19 experienced long COVID.
But for people who got their first COVID-19 infection after the Omicron variant appeared, only about 1 in 10 developed long COVID.
What Does Long COVID Feel Like?
Imagine you’ve just finished a very long run. You feel exhausted, maybe a bit dizzy, and you might have a hard time thinking clearly.
For people with long COVID, these feelings don’t go away after they’ve rested. In the NIH study, the researchers identified twelve symptoms that were most common in people with long COVID:
- Feeling very tired
- Brain fog
- Feeling dizzy
- Problems with the stomach and digestion
- Heart racing
- Problems related to sexual health
- Loss of smell or taste
- Feeling very thirsty
- Chronic cough
- Pain in the chest
- Feeling worse after physical activity
- Unusual body movements
The Challenge of Diagnosing Long COVID
Diagnosing long COVID is tricky. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle where all the pieces look a bit alike. Doctors can’t just use the list of twelve symptoms from the NIH study to say a person has long COVID.
The symptoms might show up in different ways for different people. One person might have many symptoms, another might have only one. Some people might have other symptoms that aren’t even on the list.
The Future of Long COVID Research
The research on long COVID is important. It will help doctors understand how to treat people who have this condition.
Even though the NIH study showed that fewer people get long COVID after the Omicron variant, there are still many people who are suffering from it.
Dr. Leora Horwitz, one of the researchers, said that it’s important to remember that long COVID is different from just feeling a little tired.
It’s a serious condition that needs more research. For now, everyone is trying to study long COVID, but we still have a lot to learn about it.
Remember, just like with other illnesses, if you’re not feeling well, it’s important to tell an adult. They can help you get the care you need.
If you care about COVID, please read studies that lung damage may persist long after COVID-19 infection, and doctors explain the mystery of long COVID.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies that many people with long COVID get memory problems, and results showing this drug may relieve painful ‘long covid’ symptoms.
The study was published in JAMA.
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