A study carried out with 10,000 patients in the US has revealed the 12 main symptoms of persistent Covid. This consequence of the disease, which can last for months or years after infection, is more frequent (and severe) in people who are not vaccinated or who are infected with pre-omicron variants.
The research, which has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), is part of the NIH's 'Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery' project. This project was born with the aim of understanding why some people develop long-term symptoms after Sars-CoV-2 infection and also to identify, treat and prevent persistent Covid.
The researchers analyzed data from 9,764 adults, including 8,646 affected by Covid. They evaluated more than 30 symptoms in different areas of the body and organs and carried out statistical analysis, identifying the 12 symptoms that most differentiate people with and without persistent Covid.
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Finally, they established a scoring system based on the symptoms reported by the patients, which will help doctors and researchers to better define cases and study specific treatments.
The 12 most frequent symptoms
- Discomfort after exertion
- Fatigue
- Mental confusion
- dizziness
- Gastrointestinal symptoms
- palpitations
- Decreased desire or sexual problems
- Loss of smell or taste
- Thirst
- Chronic cough
- chest pain
- abnormal mobility.
More than 100 million Americans have been infected with Sars-CoV-2 (650 million people worldwide). In April, a federal government survey estimated that around 6% of people infected with the virus suffer from persistent Covid.
Researchers have identified more than 200 symptoms associated with this disorder that occur or persist for more than 30 days after infection.. But to date there is no real definition of persistent Covid and this is what the researchers of the “Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery” project want to achieve.