LONG COVID SYMPTOMS FADING FOR MILD CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS; STUDY

Long covid is defined as symptoms persisting or new symptoms appearing more than four weeks after the initial infection. A new study reveals that most Long Covid symptoms that developed after a mild coronavirus infection lingered for several months but returned to normal within a year.

The effects of long Covid tend to resolve within a year of mild infection, with vaccinated people at lower risk of breathing difficulties compared with unvaccinated people, according to a study.

Researchers examined the health records of almost 2 million people in Israel who tested for Covid-19 over a 19-month period. Over 70 long Covid conditions were analyzed within a group of infected and matched uninfected members. They also compared conditions in vaccinated versus unvaccinated people.

This study, published in the BMJ medical journal, found most symptoms that developed after a mild infection lingered for several months, but returned to normal within a year.

Some of the limitations of the study include incomplete measurement within the medical records, meaning the data might not fully reflect diagnoses and outcomes reported, according to the researchers.

“The general message that symptoms improve over time is encouraging,” said Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, who was not part of the research team. “The study adds to the evidence that outcomes are improved by vaccination, even if vaccines don’t prevent viral transmission very well.”