New Study Finds More Than A Third Of COVID-19 Patients Have Symptoms Months Later

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Long COVID patient Gary Miller receives treatment from physiotherapist Joan Del Arco at the Long COVID Clinic at King George Hospital in Ilford, London, in May.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

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«The research found that over 1 in 3 patients had one or more features of long-COVID recorded between 3 and 6 months after a diagnosis of COVID-19, the authors concluded.

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The researchers also found that of those who had long COVID three to six months after diagnosis, roughly 40% had no record of such symptoms in the prior three months.

Long-haul symptoms for COVID seem to be hitting more often than they do for the flu

Months after the pandemic began, scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned about a post-viral syndrome that was showing up in people who had recovered from COVID. That led some to compare the symptoms experienced by many following COVID-19 to the same experience that some people have after other viral infections, such as the flu.

But the new study concludes that the chances of getting COVID-19 symptoms months after the acute stage of the illness was more than twice as high as for
influenza.

The Oxford-led team also found that people who had more severe COVID-19 illness were more likely to get long COVID. Likewise, female and young adult patients also had an elevated risk for the long-term symptoms, but the authors of the study found no difference between white and nonwhite patients.