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New study on Long Covid - every eighth infected person suffers from long-term consequences

2022-08-07T04:19:03.939Z


New study on Long Covid - every eighth infected person suffers from long-term consequences Created: 07/08/2022 06:09 By: Vincent Fischer Insurmountable hurdle: For many of those affected by Long Covid, even climbing the stairs becomes torture (symbol image). © IMAGO / Rolf Poss Many corona sufferers still suffer from symptoms months after infection. A Dutch study provides new insights into Lon


New study on Long Covid - every eighth infected person suffers from long-term consequences

Created: 07/08/2022 06:09

By: Vincent Fischer

Insurmountable hurdle: For many of those affected by Long Covid, even climbing the stairs becomes torture (symbol image).

© IMAGO / Rolf Poss

Many corona sufferers still suffer from symptoms months after infection.

A Dutch study provides new insights into Long Covid.

Groningen - For more than two years, the corona virus has been an integral part of everyday life.

Dealing with the pandemic is different this year since almost all restrictions were lifted in March.

But the number of infections is still high.

In total, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has reported over 31 million infections - but the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher.

Long Covid study: More than 76,400 respondents - one in eight suffers from long-term consequences

Many infected people still suffer from symptoms weeks or months after infection.

A large-scale study from the Netherlands, published on Thursday in the journal The Lancet, provides new insights.

This shows that every eighth corona infected person suffers from at least one symptom of Long Covid.

The researchers asked more than 76,400 adults about 23 common long-Covid symptoms.

Between March 2020 and August 2021, each participant completed the online questionnaire 24 times.

During the study period, more than 4,200 or 5.5 percent of the participants stated that they had been diagnosed with a corona infection.

Of those infected, more than 21 percent had at least one new or severely worsened symptom three to five months after infection.

However, almost nine percent of the uninfected participants also reported a similar increase.

Research results from Wuhan recently showed that Long Covid can last up to two years.

According to the researchers, the data indicate that 12.7 percent of corona patients - i.e. about one in eight - suffer from long-term complaints.

Long Covid: New approach in Dutch study - comparison with control group

A special feature of the study is the large uninfected control group, with the data of which the researchers were able to distinguish between real late effects of corona and general effects of the pandemic.

Symptoms before and after infection were also recorded in those infected, allowing the researchers to determine exactly which symptoms are related to the coronavirus.

Common long-Covid symptoms are chest pain, difficulty breathing, muscle pain, loss of taste and smell, and general fatigue.

In the video: Long-Covid - researchers expand the list of symptoms

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“By looking at symptoms in an uninfected control group and in people both before and after Sars-CoV-2 infection, we were also able to account for symptoms that may be due to other health aspects of the pandemic, such as stress Constraints and uncertainty,” said author Aranka Ballering from the University of Groningen.

Long Covid: Experts recommend further studies on mental symptoms

However, the authors point out that the study does not include newer corona variants such as Delta or Omicron.

Therefore, it also does not provide any data on symptoms such as brain fog, which have only been considered a common sign of Long Covid since the appearance of the newer variants.

Future studies should therefore also examine psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety, as well as aspects such as brain fog, insomnia and exhaustion even after minimal physical exertion, recommended study author Judith Rosmalen.

Expert Jördis Frommhold gives those affected tips on how to deal with Long Covid.

Corona experts: Vaccinated and omicron-infected people with a lower long-Covid rate

Experts Christopher Brightling and Rachael Evans from the University of Leicester, UK, who were not involved in the study, praised the study as a "major advance" over previous studies on Long Covid.

It is encouraging that "new data from other studies indicate that there is a lower long-COVID rate in people who are vaccinated or infected with the omicron variant," they wrote in The Lancet.

(vfi with afp)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-07

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