Although the global health emergency for COVID-19 has been declared over, a new study reveals that the virus’s impact continues to linger for many in the form of long COVID-19.
The research, conducted by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care system, shows that even two years after infection, people are at an elevated risk for a range of health conditions, including diabetes, lung problems, and fatigue.
Alarming Long-Term Consequences
Senior author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University, emphasized that the pandemic’s “long-lasting legacy” continues to be a daily struggle for many.
The study, published in Nature Medicine on August 21, examined the risk of death, hospitalization, and 80 different long COVID-related health conditions over two years post-infection.
“For far too many people, long COVID is a vivid, daily reminder of the detrimental and enduring effects of COVID-19,” Al-Aly said.
The study did note some encouraging signs, as health risks among those who were not hospitalized became less significant over time.
For example, the risks of death and hospitalization among the non-hospitalized became insignificant at six and 19 months, respectively.
Ongoing Struggle for Hospitalized Patients
However, those who were hospitalized within 30 days of infection continue to face a more challenging recovery.
Two years post-infection, their risk of death, hospitalization, and other adverse health conditions remained elevated across all organ systems.
Al-Aly warned that the long-term effects of COVID-19 could also have broad societal repercussions.
“The ongoing struggles with long COVID may impact labor participation, economic productivity, and even reduce life expectancy,” he said.
The researchers found that the loss of healthy life-years due to COVID-19 was significantly higher compared to other major diseases in the U.S., including cancer and heart disease.
“This illustrates the long and arduous journey we have in dealing with the long-term health consequences of the virus,” Al-Aly added.
A Call for Urgent Action
Al-Aly called for a coordinated approach to find treatments for long COVID, emphasizing that steps to decrease the risk should be a significant focus of public health policy.
“Reducing the risk of infection and transmission with updated vaccines may be critical to mitigate long-term health problems,” he said.
If you care about long COVID, please read studies about The long mystery of long COVID: it’s not inflammation! and Long COVID: The uninvited guest that tires the brain and worsens moods.
For more information about long COVID, please see recent studies about fighting lung damage from long COVID.
The study was published in Nature Medicine.
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