Study Says Many Cannot Return to Work Six Months Later

LONDON – The world’s largest ‘long Covid’ study to date has found that many of those who suffer from continued illness after Covid-19 infection are unable to return to work at full capacity six months later.

The term “long Covid” refers to patients with prolonged illness after initially contracting the virus, with symptoms including shortness of breath, migraines and chronic fatigue.

Public discourse on the pandemic has generally tended to focus on people with serious or fatal illness, with persistent medical problems that are underestimated or poorly understood. However, recent studies have shown that an increasing number of Covid patients have persistent symptoms, with some patients labeling themselves as ‘long haul’.

A preliminary study published on MedRxiv on Tuesday is believed to represent the largest collection of symptoms identified in the long Covid population to date.

In the study, which was not peer-reviewed, researchers interviewed 3,762 people aged 18 to 80 from 56 countries to identify symptoms and other problems stemming from the long Covid.

He recorded 205 symptoms in 10 organ systems, with 66 symptoms traced over seven months. On average, respondents experienced symptoms from nine organ systems.

The most common symptoms after six months were: fatigue, fatigue after exertion, and cognitive dysfunction, sometimes called brain fog.

According to the study conducted by members of Patient Led Research for COVID-19, a self-organized group of long Covid patients who are also researchers, respondents with symptoms for more than six months experienced an average of 13.8 symptoms. in the seventh month.

Over 45% of respondents said they needed a shorter work schedule than before the illness and 22.3% said they were not working at the time of the survey due to their condition health. Almost 86% experienced relapses, with exercise, physical or mental activity and stress identified as the main triggers.

Analysis was limited to suspected and confirmed Covid cases with illness over 28 days and appearing before June. This was to allow an examination of symptoms over an average of six months, according to the researchers.

“We must not forget Long Covid,” Dr Gabriel Scally, president of epidemiology at the Royal Society of Medicine, said Tuesday via Twitter.

“Thousands of new cases are developing every day. Vaccination is vital but it must be carried out effectively and supported by other control measures that Independent Sage has tirelessly advocated,” said Scally, a member of the scientific group that provides scientific advice on the pandemic to the UK government and the public.

The study results come as countries in Europe are imposing new, stringent health measures in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

More than 85 million people worldwide have contracted Covid, with 1.85 million deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.