Health care workers at North Memorial’s South Six and South Seven intensive care units treated severely COVID-19 patients at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minn on Monday, December 7, 2020.
Aaron Lavinsky | Star Tribune via Getty Images
A study in England looking at persistent Covid-19 symptoms suggests that around 2 million people in the country had what is known as “Long Covid”.
In the study, which is part of Imperial College London’s REACT research tracking the virus in England, 508,707 people across the country of approximately 56 million were asked if they had Covid (confirmed or suspected) and asked if it was present and the duration of 29 different symptoms related to the virus.
Of the 76,155 participants who said they had symptomatic Covid infection, 37.7% said they had at least one symptom for 12 weeks or longer, while almost 15% of the people said they had three or more symptoms over 12 Having had weeks or more.
Symptoms of long-term Covid can vary, with people reporting persistent tiredness, shortness of breath, memory loss or difficulty concentrating (called “brain fog”), insomnia, chest pain or dizziness, and other symptoms. But it’s still poorly understood and scientists still don’t know why some people continue to have symptoms and others don’t after Covid.
“In this large community-based study of symptoms after Covid-19 in adults aged 18 and over in England, participants reported a high prevalence of persistent symptoms that lasted 12 weeks or more,” said Imperial researchers of their latest study.
Extrapolating the results of the study to the broader Covid background in England, where 4.07 million Covid cases have been confirmed to date, the study could mean that over 2 million adults who have had the virus in England may be some form of long Covid Co.
“Estimates ranged from 5.8% of the population who had one or more persistent symptoms after Covid-19 (equivalent to over 2 million adults in England) to 2.2% for three or more persistent symptoms (just under a million adults in England). “, Stated the researchers.
They said their estimates of the proportion of people with persistent Covid symptoms were higher than many other studies, although previous estimates varied widely.
“Our comparatively high estimate that 37.7% of people with Covid-19 have one or more symptoms after 12 weeks may partly reflect the large list of symptoms we surveyed, many of which are common and not specific to Covid-19 are. We only asked participants about symptoms they associated with a confirmed or suspected Covid-19 episode and not symptoms in general. “
Scientists are long investigating Covid and experts have urged the UK government to look into its public health implications; The National Health Service, for example, has long opened Covid Assessment Centers.
“A significant proportion of people with symptomatic Covid-19 have symptoms that persist for 12 weeks or more, which is age-dependent. Clinicians need to be aware of the different manifestations of Long Covid, which may require tailored therapeutic approaches, ”the researchers at Imperial said.
The survey data was collected between September 15 last year and February 8, and the study is a preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal.
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