CNN
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Most long-standing Covid-19 symptoms disappear within the first year after infection for people with mild Covid-19, according to a large study conducted in Israel.
“Mild disease does not lead to serious or chronic long-term illness in most patients,” study co-author Barak Mizrahi, senior researcher at the KI Research Institute in Kfar Malal, said by email.
learning, Published Wednesday in the journal The BMJ, Thousands of vaccinated and unvaccinated people with mild COVID symptoms who were not hospitalized were compared with those who tested negative for the virus. Long Covid refers to persistent or persistent symptoms. More than four weeks after the first Covid-19 infection
“I think this study reassures that most symptoms that occur after COVID improve in the first months following acute infection,” said Dr. Benjamin Abramoff, director of the clinic. Penn Medicine’s Post-COVID-19 Assessment and Recovery said by email. He was not involved in the study.
But not for everyone Abramoff said his clinic still sees many patients with severe COVID symptoms more than a year after infection.
“This is especially true in individuals with early, persistent symptoms after acute infection,” said Abramoff, who led the study. A longstanding partnership of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation..
Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, an associate professor of regenerative medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, sees the same in his clinic.
“I still see many patients from The ‘first wave’ of COVID with mild to moderate acute COVID symptoms was (and was) never hospitalized. which had persistent symptoms and significantly limited function almost three years later,” Whiteson said by email. He was not involved in education.
Israeli researchers analyzed the medical records of nearly 300,000 people with COVID-19 and compared their health over the next year to about 300,000 without COVID-19. The average age of people who tested positive for COVID was 25 and 51% were women.
Researchers look for 65 long-standing COVID-related conditions And divide those conditions into two time frames: early, or the first 30 to 180 days after contracting COVID. and delayed or 180 to 360 days after infection.
After controlling for age, sex, alcohol and tobacco use pre-existing conditions and the different strains of COVID-19, researchers have found a significant risk of brain fog. loss of smell and taste breathing problems Dizziness and weakness, heart palpitations, and strep throat in both early and late stages.
Researchers say chest pain, cough, hair loss, and muscle and joint pain are the most common symptoms. and respiratory dysfunction increased significantly only in the early stages.
Studies have shown that difficulty breathing is the most common complaint. Getting vaccinated reduces the risk of respiratory problems. But researchers found that individuals who received the vaccine had “Similar risks for other outcomes. compared to unvaccinated infected patients,” according to the study.
Dr Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, said: This makes it possible to view changes in the prevalence of symptoms over time. and the impact of other factors with permanent symptoms” .
“Smell disorders usually resolve in about nine months, but when they do, attention and memory changes tend to persist more,” said Openshaw, who wasn’t involved in the study.
There were only minor differences between men and women in this study. But children have fewer early symptoms than adults. Most of which will disappear by the end of the year. No true differences were found between the original SARS-CoV-2 (March 2020). until November 2020) Alpha version (January 2021 to April 2021) and Delta (July 2021) to October 2021)
“Patients infected with COVID-19 Slightly increased risk for a small number of health outcomes. Mild symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection persist for one year. And their risk decreases over time after infection,” Mizrahi said by email.
However, “we do not claim that there are no patients with prolonged COVID symptoms such as dyspnea (difficulty breathing). weakness, mental retardation, etc,” he added. “(Our study) does not contradict the evidence that a small number of patients suffer from prolonged symptoms as seen in this analysis.”
The researchers point to some limitations to the study, such as the possibility of diagnostic errors or failure to record mild symptoms over time. Abramoff agrees.
“This study design was unable to detect the severity of these symptoms. And there may be other patients who have been missed due to the use of medical codes to detect persistent Long COVID symptoms,” Abramoff said.
It may also be difficult to apply the findings to other countries, such as the United States, due to differences in how doctors identify symptoms. For example, the study did not identify many of the conditions commonly seen in COVID clinics. Long-term in the United States, Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez. said professor and chair of the division of regenerative medicine at the Long School of Medicine at UT Health, San Antonio.
“The most common symptom of Long COVID is fatigue. which is not on this list What was missing was a post exertion sickness. dysautonomia/POTS, or ME/CFS. Here are some of the key presentations I see in my clinical population. Therefore, it was a significant limitation of this study that those results were not obtained.” Verduzco-Gutierrez said a person not involved in the new study.
Discomfort after exertion It was overwhelming exhaustion after even the slightest exertion. Unlike general fatigue It can take days to weeks for a person to recover. And sickness can return to work if resuming activities too soon.
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, is a rapid heartbeat after sitting or standing up. This can cause dizziness or fainting. It is a form of lack of independence. autonomic nervous system disorders “There is usually no cure for dysautonomia.” According to the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.
Myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndromeor ME/CFS is a serious, long-term disease People experience extreme fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest. This condition can affect sleep and thought processes. It causes pain in various parts of the body and causes people to do various activities. not in everyday life
In response to this concern Mizrahi told CNN: “Post-exertion sickness was not included in this study. as it is not a commonly prescribed diagnosis in Israel.” is defined as International Classification of Diseases or ICD medical codes as of October 2022 only and therefore were not included in the study.
However, the symptoms of POTS and other symptoms They could be included in general categories such as arrhythmias or palpitations, he said.
Additionally, Mizrahi said fatigue was coded under “weakness” in the study. The researchers found that weakness was the second most common symptom reported in the study. And it continued to spread in people ages 19 to 60 for several months.
