Persistent “Long COVID” Symptoms Suffered by More Than Half of People Diagnosed With COVID-19

Half of COVID survivors experience persistent symptoms six months after recovery.

More than half of the 236 million people globally diagnosed with COVID-19 since December 2019 will experience post-COVID symptoms — better known as “long COVID-19” — for up to six months after recovery. after recovery, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The research team said governments, healthcare organizations and public health professionals should prepare for the large number of COVID-19 survivors who need care for a variety of psychological and physical symptoms.

During their illness, many patients with COVID-19 experience symptoms, such as fatigue, difficulty breathing, chest pain, aching joints, and loss of taste or smell.

Until recently, few studies have evaluated the health of patients after recovering from the coronavirus. To better understand the short- and long-term health effects of the virus, the researchers examined global studies of unvaccinated patients recovering from COVID-19. According to the findings, both adults and children may experience various adverse health conditions for six months or more after recovering from COVID-19.

The researchers conducted a systematic review of 57 reports containing data from 250,351 unvaccinated adults and children diagnosed with COVID-19 from December 2019 to March 2021. Of the individuals surveyed, 79% were hospitalized and most patients (79%) lived in high-income countries. The median age of patients was 54 years and the majority of subjects (56%) were male.

The researchers analyzed the health of patients after COVID for three intervals of one month (short term), two to five months (medium term), and six or more months (long term).

According to the findings, survivors experienced a range of residual health problems related to COVID-19. In general, these complications affected a patient’s general well-being, their mobility or organ systems. Overall, one in two survivors experienced prolonged COVID manifestations. Rates remained largely constant from one month to six or more months after their initial illness.

The researchers noticed several trends among survivors, such as:

Public good: More than half of all patients reported weight loss, fatigue, fever or pain.
Mobility: About one in five survivors experienced a decrease in mobility.
Neurological Concerns: Nearly one in four survivors had trouble concentrating.
Mental disorders: Nearly one in three patients was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders.
Lung abnormalities: Six in ten survivors had abnormal chest imaging and more than a quarter of patients had difficulty breathing.
Cardiovascular Problems: Chest pain and palpitations were among the commonly reported conditions.
Skin conditions: Nearly one in five patients experienced hair loss or skin rashes.
Digestive Problems: Stomach pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting were among the commonly reported conditions.

“These findings confirm what many health professionals and COVID-19 survivors are claiming, which is that adverse health effects from COVID-19 may persist,” said co-lead researcher Vernon Chinchilli, chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences. “While previous studies have examined the prevalence of long-term COVID symptoms in patients, this study examined a larger population, including people in high-, middle- and low-income countries, and examined many more symptoms. Therefore, we believe that our findings are quite robust given the available data.”

“The burden of ill health in COVID-19 survivors is overwhelming,” said co-lead researcher Dr. Paddy Ssentongo, assistant professor at the Penn State Center for Neural Engineering. “This includes mental disorders. The battle with COVID does not end with recovery from the acute infection. Vaccination is our best ally to prevent us from getting sick from COVID-19 and to reduce the chance of long-term COVID-19, even with a breakthrough infection.”

The mechanisms by which COVID-19 causes persistent symptoms in survivors are not fully understood. These symptoms may be due to an overdrive of the immune system caused by the virus, ongoing infection, reinfection, or increased production of autoantibodies (antibodies directed against their own tissues). The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the agent that causes COVID-19, can access, enter, and live in the nervous system. As a result, nervous system symptoms such as taste or smell disturbances, memory impairment, and impaired attention and concentration are common in survivors.

“Our study was not intended to confirm that COVID-19 is the sole cause of these symptoms. It is likely that the symptoms reported by patients in some of the studies reviewed were due to other causes,” Ssentongo said.

According to the researchers, early intervention will be critical to improving the quality of life of many COVID-19 survivors. They said that in the coming years, health care providers will likely see an influx of patients with psychiatric and cognitive problems, such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, who were otherwise healthy before their COVID-19 infection. Based on these findings, healthcare providers should plan and allocate resources accordingly to effectively monitor and treat these conditions.

The research team noted that these long-term health problems can lead to increased demand for medical care and overwhelm health care systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. They said the findings of this study could help shape treatment plans to improve care for COVID-19 patients and establish integrated, evidence-based clinical management for those affected.

“As survivors may not have the energy or resources to go back and forth to their healthcare providers, one-stop clinics will be critical to effectively and efficiently treating patients with long-term COVID-19,” Ssentongo said. “Such clinics can reduce medical costs and optimize access to care, especially in populations with historically greater health inequalities.”

Reference: “Short and Long-Term Rates of Post-Acute Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 Infection A Systematic Review” by Destin Groff, BA; Ashley Sun, BA; Anna E. Ssentongo, DrPH, MPH; Djibril M. Ba, PhD, MPH; Nicholas Parsons, MPhil; Govinda R. Poudel, PhD; Alain Lekoubou, MD, MSc; John S. Oh, MD; Jessica E. Ericson, MD, MPH; Paddy Ssentongo, MD, PhD, MPH and Vernon M. Chinchilli, PhD, October 13, 2021, JAMA Network Open.
DOI: 10.1001 / jamanetworkopen.2021.28568

Destin Groff, Ashley Sun, Anna Ssentongo, Djibril Ba, Dr. Alain Lekoubou; dr. John Oh; and dr. Jessica Ericson of the Penn State College of Medicine contributed to this research. Nicholas Parsons of Deakin University and Govinda Poudel of the Australian Catholic University in Australia also contributed to this research.

The researchers declare no conflict of interest or specific funding for this research.