- Long COVID-19 is believed to affect 5% of persons diagnosed with COVID-19 who are not hospitalized.
- It's possible that up to 80% of hospitalized coronavirus patients will get it.
- Women, persons over 40, Black people, and people with chronic health issues are the people most likely to acquire lengthy COVID-19, according to a recent study.
People over 40, women, Black people and those with underlying health problems are among those most at risk of extended COVID-19, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Long COVID, also known as COVID-19 post-acute sequelae, is estimated to affect 5% of nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients and up to 80% of hospitalized coronavirus patients.
Researchers believe that the US healthcare system's structural and socioeconomic obstacles may lead to specific populations' greater incidence of protracted COVID.
Researchers believe that by knowing more about who is most affected by extended COVID, improved prevention and treatment methods for at-risk populations may be created.
“Identifying inequalities in post-acute COVID-19 sequelae will assist guide public health resource allocation and enhance health equality while populations recover from the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the research.
Who is the most vulnerable to lengthy COVID?
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services led the study, which looked at 366 persons aged 18 and above who tested positive for COVID-19 between April 1 and December 10, 2020.
After testing positive, the patients were questioned at least two months later.
Two months following their positive diagnostic test, one-third of the patients reported at least one symptom.
Fatigue, trouble breathing, and parosmia were the most frequent symptoms (loss of smell).
Women, persons over 40, Black people, and people with previous health problems were more likely to experience symptoms.
More study is needed to understand and treat extended COVID, according to researchers, as more patients recover from COVID-19.
The study stated that "identifying groups disproportionately affected by post-acute COVID-19 sequelae can help develop efforts to prioritize preventions and treatment strategies, such as vaccination of groups at higher risk for these long-term sequelae, and access to testing and care for post-acute sequelae."
What produces a COVID that is too long?
Researchers suspect a number of variables, but it's unknown why certain people are more likely to acquire lengthy COVID.
Inequalities in exposure to SARS-CoV-2, inequities in testing and management, and variations in the existence of underlying health problems among specific racial groups are among the causes.
Though the study of extended COVID is still in its early stages, Dr. Albert Shaw, a Yale Medicine infectious diseases expert and professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, believes there are several reasons why patients acquire the condition.
“Despite recovery from acute infection (and even negative COVID-19 tests), there might remain persistent SARS-CoV-2 virus (the source of COVID-19), or possibly not the entire virus but portions of it, somewhere in the body, and this virus causes the immune system to continue to be activated,” Shaw added.
Another idea is that as the immune system fights the coronavirus, it also produces "autoantibodies" that fight normal proteins in the body.
Because the symptoms are so varied — including shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell, and memory and concentration issues — Shaw believes there might be additional reasons for who gets lengthy COVID and why.
One of the most important findings of the study is that extended COVID is not uncommon. One-third of the participants in this research had at least one symptom two months after testing positive.
“Because a large number of persons (one-third of those questioned in our study) can acquire long-term COVID symptoms, this offers even more incentive for everyone to take measures against getting COVID-19, such as immunization and wearing a mask indoors,” Shaw said.
The bottom line: According to a new CDC study, adults over 40, women, Black people, and those with underlying health problems are at the most risk of lengthy COVID. It's still unclear what causes certain people to develop long-distance symptoms, but scientists are looking into it. Scientists seek to create better preventive and treatment techniques by determining who is most affected by extended COVID.
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