Survey reveals more than one million Britons have long Covid symptoms

What causes long COVID is not clear yet, but researchers have indicated some possible reasons such as: lack of immune system response, relapse or reinfection of the virus, deconditioning and post-traumatic stress.

Some people infected with the novel coronavirus may continue to experience the symptoms of the disease for weeks or months after contracting the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. This condition is termed as 'Long Covid' and people experiencing such long-term effects of COVID-19 are commonly referred to as long haulers. Current data indicates that people with mild COVID-19 usually recover within 1 2 weeks since the onset of the infection while recovery can take 6 weeks or longer in severe cases. In long Covid, the symptoms may extend beyond 3 weeks or last longer than 2 months, according to researchers. The long Covid symptoms may include fatigue, respiratory symptoms, and neurological symptoms. Data form the COVID Symptom Study app suggests that 1 in 10 people with COVID-19 experience long Covid. According to the latest figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS), about 1.1 million Britons have reported having long Covid symptoms, which affected their ability to undertake everyday tasks.

Two thirds of those with self-reported long Covid said that they're not able to do the things they would've been able to do before, Ben Humberstone, head of Health and Life Events at the ONS, told Sky News. They reported having symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating.

Global prevalence of Long Covid

Earlier, a study from China had revealed that more than three-quarters of COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Wuhan continue to have at least one symptom six months after they were discharged from the hospital. Last year, a study from Italy also found that 87.4 per cent of COVID-19 patients still experienced at least one symptom 2 months after their discharge from the hospital. Another Swiss study also indicated that 1 in 3 people with mild COVID-19 were experiencing symptoms after 6 weeks since the onset of the infection.

Possible causes of Long Covid

What causes long COVID is not clear yet, but researchers have indicated some possible reasons such as: lack of immune system response, relapse or reinfection of the virus, deconditioning (change in physical function due to bed rest or inactivity) and post-traumatic stress. Some research links damage to multiple organs, including the lungs, heart, and brain, to the prolonged effects of COVID-19.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has listed the symptoms that long haulers most commonly report. These are: fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain and chest pain. People with long covid may also experience brain fog, depression, muscle pain, headache, fever that may come and go, and heart palpitations, sleep issues, memory and concentration difficulties, anxiety, mood changes, it said.

With inputs from agencies