There are eight different ways people experience long Covid symptoms, according to a new study
Millions of people around the world have long Covid(Image: Getty Images)
As memories of the Covid pandemic fade, many patients continue to wrestle with its aftermath. There are still many unknowns about long Covid, but new research has identified eight different ways people experience symptoms.
Long Covid is a chronic condition that involves a range of symptoms that persist for at least three months after having Covid-19, the infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Millions of people around the world have long Covid, with global estimates indicating that six per cent of cases will go on to develop it.
Now, a new paper has found 10 per cent of Covid patients in the US had symptoms consistent with long Covid three months after infection, with 81 per cent of those continuing to experience symptoms a year later.
The research, which looked at 3,700 adults who were first infected with the virus during the Omicron wave, also found there are eight distinct ways people experience the condition.
“This study addresses an urgent need to define the differing long COVID trajectories,” said senior author Bruce Levy of Mass General Brigham. “Our findings will help determine what resources are needed for clinical and public health support of individuals with long COVID and will also inform efforts to understand long COVID’s biological basis.”
The patients were followed for 15 months and filled in a questionnaire on their symptoms every three months. They were then split into eight different groups depending on their persistent symptoms and how they changed over time.
Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of long Covid(Image: Getty Images)
Most participants (1,301) were placed into the ‘consistent, minimal to no symptom burden’ group, meaning they occasionally reported minimal Covid-like symptoms.
The next most common group (481), was the ‘consistent, low symptom burden’ group, who consistently reported low-level Covid-like symptoms. The third most common group (443) was ‘intermittent, high symptom burden’, who had symptoms that ranged from mild to severe.
The most severe group – ‘persistent, high burden’ symptoms across the 15 months – had a total of 195 people who constantly had debilitating or severe symptoms.
The eight long Covid symptom groups, according to the study, are:
Persistent, high symptom burden: Individuals whose symptoms met the threshold for long Covid at every questionnaire over the 15-month study periodIntermittent, high symptom burden: Individuals whose symptoms met the threshold for long Covid intermittently over the study periodImproving, moderate symptom burden: Individuals whose long Covid symptoms gradually decreased over timeImproving, low symptom burden: Individuals who had low persistent symptoms that were non-existent or virtually non-existent by the six-month markWorsening, moderate symptom burden: Participants whose symptoms gradually worsened over timeDelayed, worsening symptom burden: Individuals whose symptoms had worsened by month 15 of the studyConsistent, low symptom burden: Individuals who consistently suffered from low-level symptoms over the study periodConsistent, minimal to no symptom burden: Individuals who suffered from minimal to no symptoms over the study period
“The variability we identified will enable future studies to evaluate risk factors and biomarkers that could explain why patients vary in time of recovery, and help identify potential therapeutic targets,” said first author Tanayott Thaweethai, assistant professor at Massachusetts General Hospital Biostatistics.
Full list of long Covid symptoms
Long Covid is linked to a wide range of symptoms. Studies have suggested the condition may be caused by the immune system remaining overactive after a Covid infection.
Long Covid happens when the symptoms of Covid-19 last longer than 12 weeks(Image: Getty Images)
According to the NHS, the most common symptoms of long COVID include:
feeling extremely tired (fatigue)shortness of breathjoint pain and aching musclesproblems with your memory and concentration, also called brain fog
Other symptoms can include:
a high temperaturea blocked or runny nosea cougha sore throatchest pain or tightness and noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations)losing your hair and getting skin rashes, such as hivesheadaches, feeling dizzy and vertigosudden confusion (delirium), especially in older peopledifficulty sleeping (insomnia)changes to your senses, such as problems with your vision, earaches, hearing ringing sounds inside your ear (tinnitus), and differences in your sense of smell or tastetummy pain and diarrhoeafeeling or being sick, losing weight and not feeling like eatingpins and needles, and aches and pains in different parts of your bodyanxiety and depression
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.