In a recent study published within the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, a team of researchers examined the danger aspects and prevalence and impact of long coronavirus disease (COVID) amongst a representative sample of adults in america (U.S.) and reported that near 19 million U.S. adults suffer from long COVID.

Study: The epidemiology of long COVID in US adults. Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock

Background

Long COVID, also often known as post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PASC), comprises persistent or recurring symptoms reminiscent of fever, headaches, cognitive impairments, cardiovascular difficulties, debilitating fatigue, dyspnea, and other symptoms affecting various organ systems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the variety of long COVID cases to be one in every five COVID-19 cases.

Studies indicate that the prevalence of long COVID is higher amongst women and individuals with multiple comorbidities or chronic conditions. Nevertheless, a comprehensive understanding of long COVID risk aspects, the impact of long COVID on the standard of life, and the effectiveness of vaccines and booster doses in protecting against long COVID are still lacking. The variety of breakthrough infections has increased with the emergence of immune-evading variants reminiscent of Omicron. Due to this fact, determining the extent of protection offered by primary and booster vaccine doses against long COVID is important.

In regards to the study

In the current study, the team conducted a bi-lingual (English and Spanish), cross-sectional, probability-based survey amongst 3,042 adults within the U.S. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection history was determined for every participant based on self-reported positive SARS-CoV-2 tests from a healthcare provider or home-rapid antigen tests or self-reported COVID-19 symptoms with evidence of close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient.

The survey investigated the prevalence of long COVID symptoms reminiscent of fatigue, concentration difficulties, and dyspnea lasting greater than 4 weeks after recovering from COVID-19. The proportion of people who confirmed these symptoms and had COVID-19 4 or more weeks before was calculated to estimate the prevalence of long COVID within the population.

Moreover, the impact of long COVID on day by day activities was determined based on answers as to whether and to what extent the long COVID symptoms affect the participant’s ability to perform day by day activities in comparison with their abilities before affected by COVID-19. The presence of comorbidities or health conditions reminiscent of cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, immunodeficiency, liver disease, hypertension, or a recent organ transplant were also determined to know long COVID predictors.

Results

The outcomes reported that 7.3% of the participants reported having long COVID symptoms, which translates to shut to 19 million U.S. adults. Consistent with previous studies, the prevalence of long COVID was higher amongst women and individuals with comorbidities. Unvaccinated individuals, in addition to vaccinated individuals who had not received booster doses also had a better prevalence of long COVID. Adults older than 65 years had a lower prevalence of long COVID, and compared to white non-Hispanic individuals, individuals of Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander races had a lower prevalence of long COVID.

Among the many participants who reported long COVID symptoms, 44% had SARS-CoV-2 infections within the previous six months, 27% had SARS-CoV-2 infections six to 12 months previously, and 29% reported having a SARS-CoV-2 infection greater than a yr ago. As well as, all of the participants with long COVID reported decreased ability to perform day by day activities. The individuals with probably the most recent SARS-CoV-2 infections reported the very best impact on day by day activities.

Given the big selection and non-specificity of long COVID symptoms, determining the long COVID burden has proven to be complicated. Understanding the danger aspects for long COVID may help formulate strategies to administer the long-lasting impacts of COVID-19. The authors discussed that many previous studies investigating the danger aspects related to long COVID had been conducted amongst hospitalized patients, which could over-represent individuals with comorbidities.

The current study, more representative of the U.S. adult population, reports a surprisingly lower long COVID prevalence among the many elderly population. The authors consider this may very well be as a result of the increased uptake of vaccines among the many older population of the U.S. and the next of disease mitigation measures reminiscent of masking and social distancing.

Conclusions

To summarize, this cross-sectional survey amongst a representative group of the adult U.S. population examined the danger aspects related to long COVID and the impact of persistent or recurring long COVID symptoms on day by day activities.

The outcomes indicated that over 18 million individuals in america suffer from long COVID, with a better prevalence observed amongst women, individuals with comorbidities, and White individuals. Unvaccinated and unboosted individuals were also more vulnerable to long COVID. All individuals with long COVID symptoms reported decreased ability to perform day by day activities, however the impact of long COVID on day by day life was seen to scale back with time.

Journal reference:

• Robertson, M. M., Qasmieh, S. A., Kulkarni, S. G., Teasdale, C. A., Jones, H., McNairy, M., Borrell, L. N., & Nash, D. (2022). The epidemiology of long COVID in U.S. adults. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciac961, https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01118-7