1 in 8 SARS-CoV-2 patients develop long COVID symptoms: Lancet study

The inclusion of uninfected populations enables a more accurate prediction of long-term COVID-19 symptom prevalence as well as improved identification of the core symptoms of long COVID

One in eight adults who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus experience long-term symptoms due to COVID-19, according to a large Dutch study published on August 5 in The Lancet journal.

The study provides one of the first comparisons of long-term symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection, called 'long COVID', with symptoms in an uninfected population, as well as those in individuals both pre and post-COVID-19 infection.

The inclusion of uninfected populations enables a more accurate prediction of long-term COVID-19 symptom prevalence as well as improved identification of the core symptoms of long COVID.

"There is urgent need for data informing the scale and scope of the long-term symptoms experienced by some patients after COVID-19 illness.” said Professor Judith Rosmalen from the University of Groningen in The Netherlands.

“However, most previous research into long COVID has not looked at the frequency of these symptoms in people who haven't been diagnosed with COVID-19 or looked at individual patients' symptoms before the diagnosis of COVID-19,” said Rosmalen, lead author of the study.

The study looked at the symptoms most often associated with long COVID, including breathing problems, fatigue and loss of taste and smell, both before a COVID-19 diagnosis and in people who have not been diagnosed with the disease.

The researchers collected data by asking participants to regularly fill out digital questionnaires on 23 symptoms commonly associated with long COVID.