New research in Nature Communications underscores the difficult road to recovery for many people with long COVID. The Scottish study involved more than 33,000 participants with lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections and nearly 63,000 controls with no history of infection.
Followup 6 and 18 months after infection revealed that 1 in 20 patients still had not recovered from symptoms such as breathlessness, chest pain, and brain fog; and 42% said they felt only marginally better. While the Long-CISS (COVID in Scotland Study) took place outside of the United States, estimates project as many as 23 million American are affected by the syndrome — including about 1 million unable to return to work.
“There are lots of different impacts going beyond health to quality of life, employment, schooling and the ability to look after yourself,” notes lead investigator Jill Pell, professor of public health at the University of Glasgow. The research also identified female gender, older age and existing physical and mental health comorbidities as risk factors for long COVID. Additional findings suggest that vaccination does afford some protection against this phenomenon and that, while not completely insulated, people with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections are less likely to become long-haulers.