The mysterious condition may be wide-reaching

Published 11/02/23, Mansur Shaheen, The Messenger

Upwards of 50 million Americans could have experienced symptoms of long COVID at some point in the last three years, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University College London, in England, gathered data from 461,550 people who completed a U.S. Census Survey between June to December 2022. Part of the survey included reporting on whether a person had experienced a COVID-19 infection, and whether they believe they had ever experienced long COVID.

The UCL team, who published their study Thursday in PLOS One, found that 14% of respondents — which would be the equivalent of around 50 million Americans — said that they had experienced long COVID at some point. Around 7% said they were currently experiencing symptoms.

This is far more than estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of around 7% of the adult population having ever reported long term virus symptoms.

“Little is known about long Covid and its impact on health and wellbeing, but there is a growing body of evidence that many people experience persistent and concerning symptoms,” Alex Bryson, Ph.D., a researcher at UCL and co-author of the study, said in a statement.

Long COVID is a seemingly prominent yet mysterious condition that has baffled doctors over the past three years. Its symptoms can be wide ranging, from cognitive effects such as poor concentration and memory — also known as brain fog — to poor mental health, to some people claiming they are bedridden because of a latent COVID infection.

However, it is unclear what exactly causes many of these symptoms. While one previous study linked cognitive defects linked to long COVID to the virus lingering in a person’s gut microbiome, the potential symptoms of the condition are so wide-reaching that a single cause has been hard to find.

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Some experts have even speculated that the dangers of long COVID are widely overstated.

In their study, the UCL team largely found that people who reported symptoms of the condition either experienced mental health issues or brain fog.

“Those who have ever had long COVID remain more likely to report low mood, challenges in carrying out daily tasks, and challenges with memory, concentration and understanding, compared to people who have never had long COVID,” Dr. Bryson said.

Other reported issues included physical mobility problems — such as struggles getting out of bed and getting dressed each morning.

Middle-aged white women were found to be the most at-risk group for long COVID symptoms.

“Here, we have found that long COVID continues to affect millions of people in the US, with some groups much more affected than others.,” Dr. Bryson said.