COVID-19 is a disease that has affected many people around the world.
While most people recover after getting sick, some people continue to have health problems.
This is called long COVID. It can affect how well a person lives and works. Studies have tried to understand long COVID better, but the results have been mixed.
A new study from Switzerland tries to clear up some of the confusion.
Details of the Swiss Study
The study looked at people who were part of the Zurich SARS-CoV-2 Cohort. This group includes adults who had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The researchers followed these people for two years. They studied 1,106 unvaccinated adults who got the virus between August 2020 and January 2021. They also studied 628 adults who never had the virus.
The participants shared information about 23 possible long COVID symptoms at six, 12, 18, and 24 months after getting infected.
The researchers also considered factors like age, sex, education, work, and health problems that existed before the virus.
What the Study Found
The study found that 55% of participants felt normal within a month of getting infected. Another 18% recovered in one to three months.
But, at six months, 23% said they hadn’t fully recovered yet. This number dropped to 19% at 12 months, and 17% at 24 months.
The number of people still having COVID-19-related symptoms was slightly higher but followed the same pattern.
At six months, 29% of people still had symptoms. This number fell to 20% at 12 months, and 18% at 24 months.
Specific Health Issues Related to Long COVID
People who had COVID-19 were more likely to have certain physical and mental health problems six months after infection.
Physical problems included changes in taste or smell (9.8%), feeling unwell after exercise (9.4%), and shortness of breath (7.8%). Mental health issues included trouble concentrating (8.3%) and feeling anxious (4%).
People who had symptoms at all check-ins or whose symptoms got worse were usually older and had health problems before getting the virus.
Limitations of the Study and Future Work
The study has a few limitations. It only looked at unvaccinated people who got the original virus. Also, the health information was provided by the participants, which can sometimes be unreliable.
However, the study was large and checked on participants regularly. The results were also consistent even after additional analyses. This gives the researchers confidence in their findings.
The researchers believe long COVID is a big challenge for people and healthcare services. They say more clinical trials are needed to find effective treatments for long COVID.
Understanding long COVID is important for making policies, deciding on treatments, and coordinating care.
A researcher from the University of Southern California stresses that future work should be based on high-quality data and involve patients in the design of the studies.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and Strawberries could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about new evidence on rare blood clots after COVID-19 vaccination, and how diets could help manage post-COVID syndrome.
The study was published in The BMJ.
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