Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : September 3, 2021 12:03 PM IST
Loss of smell, cough, fever, headaches, and fatigue are most common long term symptoms.
Although most people infected with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people continue to experience symptoms for weeks or months. Even patients who had mild illness or had no initial symptoms are experiencing post-COVID conditions, also known as long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, long-term effects of COVID, or chronic COVID. These conditions include a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems that patients can experience four or more weeks after first being infected with the virus. But if you have received a double vaccination, you're less likely to catch the virus and have long COVID, in case you contract the infection.
A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases has revealed that double vaccination reduces the risk of Long COVID by almost half. Those who have receive two doses of the vaccine against are 49% less likely to have Long COVID should they contract a COVID-19 infection, it said.
For the study, researchers at King's College London used data from the UK ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, recorded between 8th December 2020 and 4 July 2021.
Those who are fully vaccinated were also 73% less likely to be hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 31% less likely to suffer acute symptoms. Although both vaccinated and unvaccinated people experience similar common symptoms like anosmia (loss of smell), cough, fever, headaches, and fatigue, the symptoms were milder and occur less frequently among people who were vaccinated. Compared to unvaccinated people, fully vaccinated people were half as likely to get multiple symptoms in the first week of illness. But sneezing was more commonly reported in vaccinated people who got infected with COVID-19.
According to the study results, the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection after vaccination and of getting sick was higher among people living in most deprived areas and those who had health conditions or frail adults.
Thus, the researchers highlighted the need to target at-risk groups, suggesting strategies such as a timely booster programme, targeted infection control measures. They also believe that more research into the immune response to vaccination in this group may help address the issue.
" Having a double vaccination significantly reduces the risk of both catching the virus and if you do, developing long standing symptoms. However, among our frail, older adults and those living in deprived areas the risk is still significant and they should be urgently prioritised for second and booster vaccinations," said lead researcher Dr Claire Steves from King's College London, as quoted by Science Daily.
According to Professor Tim Spector from King's College London and Lead investigator of ZOE COVID Study, vaccination reduces the chances of people getting Long COVID in two ways first by reducing the risk of any symptoms by 8 to 10-fold and then by halving the chances of any infection turning into Long COVID, if it does happen.
The duration of symptoms is also much milder among vaccinated people, he said while encouraging people to get their 2nd jab as soon as they can.
