Nearly one in seven suffers from a long COVID, according to a British study

Nearly one in seven Britons who tested positive for COVID-19 continued to show symptoms for at least 12 weeks, according to a British study published Thursday.

The Bureau of National Statistics said the study of more than 20,000 people who tested positive from April of last year to March of this year found that 13.7% had symptoms that lasted at least 12 weeks.

This was based on the self-reported symptoms of the so-called “long COVID” people. The list of 13 symptoms included fatigue, muscle pain and difficulty concentrating as well as loss of taste and smell.

Women were more likely (14.7%) to report these long-lasting symptoms than men (12.7%).

People aged 35 to 49 were the most likely to report symptoms after five weeks (25.6%).

The study of UK patients was based on a random sample of 21,622 participants who tested positive from swabs and were asked about their symptoms each month.

A control group unlikely to have been infected was also set up. He found that they were eight times less likely to have such symptoms.

A larger survey of 1.1 million people self-reported COVID long over the four weeks ending March 6, 2021, the ONS said.

Ben Humberstone, head of health and life events analysis at ONS, said this was his first analysis of new data and that “our understanding and quality will improve with the time”.

Long COVID “is an emerging phenomenon that is not yet fully understood,” he added.

Britain, one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic, has recorded nearly 127,000 deaths from COVID and 4,350,266 cases.

However, the number of daily deaths and positive tests has steadily declined amid a vigorous vaccination campaign.

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© 2021 AFP