Many patients with ‘Covid long’ have been unable to return to work properly six months after infection, a study suggests.
A new study examined the effect on people months after their first infection. While some appear to be returning to normal health, others are left with debilitating fatigue and known as ‘brain fog’, among other symptoms.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, examined symptoms in addition to other factors.
Researchers from Patient-led Research for Covid-19 studied more than 3,700 long-term Covid patients from 56 different countries.
A third were in their 40s, 27 per cent in their 50s and 26 per cent were between 30 and 39. The majority of respondents (79 per cent) were women.
Only 8 percent were admitted to the hospital for their Covid symptoms and only a quarter reported a laboratory-confirmed case of Covid-19. The majority (96 percent) said their symptoms lasted more than 90 days.
The paper found that symptoms affected 10 different “organ systems”. The most commonly reported symptoms after six months were obesity, post-traumatic stress disorder and malaise – symptoms worsening after even a little exercise or mindfulness.
Those who reported symptoms six months after infection reported experiencing relapses that were often triggered by exercise, physical or mental activity and stress.
Overall, 45 percent of people living with Covid had a “smaller” agenda compared to pre-illness. And 22.3 percent were not working because of their health condition.
“Patients with Covid have long reported multiple systemic involvement and disability,” the researchers wrote.
“Many patients are not getting over seven months, and are still experiencing a severe burden of symptoms.”