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covid symptoms may linger in third of cases: study
researchers believe 'the persistence of symptoms must be recognized in order to legitimize the concerns of patients.'
dec 9 2020
2 minute read
researchers say prevention is important, given how long symptoms may persist.
getty
covid-19 infections differ enormously from individual to individual, with some getting the virus, but experiencing none of the symptoms, while others suffer for weeks, even months after first becoming sick. a new article from a team of geneva-based physicians and epidemiologists suggests that symptoms may persist for more than a month after diagnosis in about a third of cases.
the researchers followed nearly 700 people who had covid-19, but didn’t require hospitalization. the average age of the participants was 43, and roughly 69 per cent didn’t have any underlying risk factors. the researchers regularly phoned participants and each were contacted 30 to 45 days after diagnosis as well.
the results? about 33 per cent of participants reported one or more symptoms associated with the disease six weeks after being diagnosed. the most commonly reported symptoms were fatigue (14 per cent), loss of taste or smell (12 per cent), and shortness of breath (9 per cent). about six per cent reported a persistent cough and three per cent said they were still having headaches.
the article, published in the annals of internal medicine , underlines the importance of communication and taking the concerns of patients seriously, the researchers say.
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“everyone should realize that previously healthy people can also be affected by covid-19, weeks or even months following the infection. prevention is therefore of the utmost importance,” the team says, in a press release .
the release also points out that “the persistence of symptoms must be recognized in order to legitimize the concerns of patients faced with a new and unknown disease, and to optimize their management.”
people experiencing symptoms long after infection are often call “long haulers,” or the virus itself is referenced to as “long covid.” many people still experiencing symptoms for months after infection have shared their stories and were frequently troubled by how their lingering side effects were met with skepticism or outright dismissal. lauren nichols, who became sick in early march, told healthing that she struggles with extreme fatigue each morning, memory lapses and often feels dizzy performing simple tasks. but fighting for care was another unfortunate aspect of long covid.
“sometimes, people aren’t getting the proper medical support, so you’re really left to kind of fend for yourself — and that’s a very difficult place to be in when you are battling such difficult physical issues,” she told healthing earlier this year. “you cannot pretend it’s psychological when there are very real physical symptoms going on. it’s incredibly inhumane to tell that person your erratic heartbeat, your covid toes, your diarrhea or severe nausea is because of anxiety.”
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the geneva team will continue to study the same group of participants, following up three months, seven months and 12 months following infection.
the researchers say their findings show the need for “an information campaign towards the general public and healthcare workers, but also, more broadly, among employers, insurance companies and society in general.”
monika warzecha is a homepage editor at healthing.ca
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