What is long COVID?

What happens after someone has recovered from COVID-19? 

The researchers found that nearly half of COVID-19 patients have lasting health issues.

For many, recovery from COVID-19’s acute phase is just the beginning of the story. COVID-19 can affect the long-term health of a person’s heart, brain, lungs, kidneys and skin. It can also cause a host of lasting symptoms, referred to collectively as “long COVID.”

One 2021 study found that more than three-quarters of COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Wuhan, China, still had at least one symptom 6 months after their discharge from the hospital. 

This is consistent with a 2020 study from Italy that found that 87.4% of COVID-19 patients reported experiencing at least one symptom 2 months after their discharge from the hospital.

A preprint 2020 study found that long COVID is more likely to occur in older adults, people with a higher body mass index (BMI), and females. 

It also notes that individuals who experience more than five symptoms during the first week of illness are more likely to develop long COVID.

The symptoms that people most commonly report in long COVID are: 

• ·        fatigue
• ·        shortness of breath
• ·        cough
• ·        joint pain
• ·        chest pain

People may also experience: 

• ·        brain fog, wherein they find it more difficult to think clearly and focus
• ·        depression
• ·        muscle pain
• ·        headache
• ·        fever, which may come and go
• ·        heart palpitations, or a feeling of the heart pounding

People may also develop long-term complications that affect the organs.

Some possible causes of long COVID may include: 

• ·        a reduced or lack of response from the immune system
• ·        relapse or reinfection of the virus
• ·        inflammation or a reaction from the immune system
• ·        deconditioning, a change in physical function due to bed rest or inactivity
• ·        post-traumatic stress

Some research indicates that the lingering problems associated with long COVID-19 may be the result of injury to multiple organs, including the lungs, heart and brain. COVID-19 may also cause long lasting changes to the immune system, which can affect these organs. These changes, particularly in the lungs, may last longer than the time it takes for the body to remove the virus.