Study: Most long covid symptoms subside within a year after mild infection

According to a comprehensive study published in The BMJ most symptoms or diseases that occur after mild Covid19 infection last for several months but recover to normal within a yearIn particular vaccinated people were at lower risk of breathing difficulties ndash the most common effect to develop after mild infection ndash compared with unvaccinated people These findings suggest that although the long covid phenomenon has been feared and discussed since the beginning of the pandemic the vast majority of mild disease cases do not suffer serious or chronic long term illness say the researchersLong covid is defined as symptoms persisting or new symptoms appearing more than four weeks after initial infection In March 2022 an estimated 15 million people in the UK 24 pc of the population reported long covid symptoms mainly fatigue shortness of breath loss of smell loss of taste and difficulty concentratingBut the clinical effects of long covid one year after mild infection and their association with age sex covid19 variants and vaccination status are still unclear To address this researchers compared the health of uninfected individuals with those who had recovered from mild covid19 for a year after infectionThey used electronic records of a large public healthcare organisation in Israel in which almost 2 million members were tested for covid19 between 1 March 2020 and 1 October 2021 Over 70 long covid conditions were analysed in a group of infected and matched uninfected members average age 25 years 5137 femaleThey compared conditions in unvaccinated people with and without covid19 infection controlling for age sex and covid19 variants during early 30180 days and late 180360 days time periods after infection Conditions in vaccinated versus unvaccinated people with covid19 were also compared over the same time periodsTo ensure only mild disease was assessed they excluded patients admitted to hospital with more serious illness Other potentially influential factors such as alcohol intake smoking status socioeconomic level and a range of preexisting chronic conditions were also taken into accountCovid19 infection was significantly associated with increased risks of several conditions including loss of smell and taste concentration and memory impairment breathing difficulties weakness palpitations streptococcal tonsillitis and dizziness in both early and late time periods while hair loss chest pain cough muscle aches and pains and respiratory disorders resolved in the late period For example compared with noninfected people mild covid19 infection was associated with a 45fold higher risk of smell and taste loss an additional 20 people per 10000 in the early period and an almost 3fold higher risk 11 per 10000 people in the late periodThe overall burden of conditions after infection across the 12month study period was highest for weakness an additional 136 people per 10000 and breathing difficulties 107 per 10000 When conditions were assessed by age breathing difficulties were the most common appearing in five of the six age groups but remaining persistent throughout the first year postinfection in the 1940 4160 and over 60 years age groupsWeakness appeared in four of the six age groups and remained persistent in the late phase only in the 1940 and 4160 age groups Male and female patients showed minor differences and children had fewer outcomes than adults during the early phase of covid19 which mostly resolved in the late period Findings were similar across the wildtype Alpha and Delta covid19 variants Vaccinated people who became infected had a lower risk of breathing difficulties and similar risk for other conditions compared with unvaccinated infected patientsThe researchers point to some limitations such as incomplete measurement within medical records so data might not fully reflect diagnoses and outcomes reported And they cant rule out the possibility that covid19 patients may use healthcare services more frequently resulting in higher reporting and increased screening for potential covidrelated outcomes in these patients Nevertheless this was a large detailed analysis of health records across a diverse population representing one of the longest followup studies in patients with mild covid19 to date And findings should apply to similar western populations worldwideOur study suggests that mild covid19 patients are at risk for a small number of health outcomes and most of them are resolved within a year from diagnosis say the researchersImportantly the risk for lingering dyspnoea was reduced in vaccinated patients with breakthrough infection compared with unvaccinated people while risks of all other outcomes were comparable they addAlso Read Mumbai marathon is back to claim the roads after three dismal years of pandemicThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the 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