WASHINGTON (AP) — About 10% of the U.S. population appears to have had long-term exposure to the omicron variant after infection, less than was thought at the beginning of the pandemic, according to a study of nearly 10,000 Americans that seeks to clarify. that mysterious condition.
Preliminary findings from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) link a dozen signs of chronicity of COVID, a threshold for health problems that may occur months or even years later, with a milder version of COVID-19.
Thousands of people around the world have suffered prolonged periods of COVID, with symptoms including fatigue and brain fog. Even experts don’t know what causes it, why it only affects some people, how to treat it, or how to better diagnose it. A narrower definition of the key condition for scientists to answer must come up.
“Sometimes I hear people say, ‘Oh, everyone’s a little tired,'” said Leora Horwitz, MD, of NYU Langone Health, one of the study’s authors.
The study, published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, included more than 8,600 adults who had had the COVID-19 pandemic and compared them with another 1,100 who were not infected.
Some estimate that about a third of people who have had COVID-19 have had post-covid illnesses. Associations with participants in the NIH study that reported patients before the spread of the omicron variant in the United States in December 2021. There, the study also began, and experts noticed that people who already had symptoms of chronic COVID. more willing to participate.
But some 2,230 had their first case of the coronavirus after the start of the study, allowing them to report their symptoms in real time, and only 10% experienced persistent symptoms over six months.
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Previous studies have suggested that the risk of persistent COVID decreased when the omicron was reached; their descendants are propagated.
The big question now is to identify and help those who already have chronic COVID.
A new study focused on twelve signs that help define persistent COVID: fatigue; mental confusion; I am dizzy; gastrointestinal symptoms; palpitations of the heart; romantic taste or smell; thirst; old cough; chest pain; Symptoms worsen with space or other movement.
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