The WHO has warned that there has been a global increase in infections in recent weeks. Meanwhile, experts are warning about the after-effects of the disease, which affects millions of people.
What are the persistent symptoms of Covid-19? Photo Unsplash.
We were very wrong if we thought that the virus COVID-19 had disappeared. In recent weeks, confirmed cases have increased worldwide and there are fears for the long-term effects that the disease could cause in the body.
The more the virus circulates, the greater the probability of mutation and become more severe, according to data and scientific evidence managed by the international health agency.
Given this scenario, more than four years after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, an increasingly common health problem worries the scientific community: Long COVID.
COVID-19 cases are rising worldwide. Photo: Reuters, Alamy.
Las Post-COVID-19 sequelaealso known as COVID persistente o “long COVID”, They refer to a variety of persistent symptoms that some people present after having suffered the initial infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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What is long COVID?
He COVID-19 deja aftermath which can last for weeks, months or even yearsThose who suffer from them may experience different symptoms, which vary in intensity from mild to severeand which usually resemble so much other diseases that can be confused.
There are more than 200 symptoms associated with the COVID prolongado o long COVID and can range from a extreme fatigue, breathing problems until difficulties in thinking or concentratingthe U.S. National Institutes of Health notes.
Meanwhile, researchers around the world are trying to figure out why some people develop Long COVID, while others do not.
COVID-19 leaves after-effects that can last for weeks, months or even years. Foto: Unsplash.
“He intense scientific effort that triggered the Long COVID “It has resulted in more than 24,000 scientific publications, making it the most researched health condition in the four recorded years of human history,” described Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Washington and chosen as one of the 100 most influential personalities in health in 2024 by Time magazine.
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Health problems caused by long COVID
According to a report from the US National Academies of Sciences that comprehensively examined the health effects of long COVID, it warned that it can trigger a wide range of health problems
They can manifest heart disease, neurological disorders like the cognitive impairment and brain fog, post-exertional malaise, gastrointestinal disorders, nephropathy, metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and immune dysfunctions.
It should be noted that the effects not only affect adults, but also people of all ages, even those who suffered from the disease in a mild form.
Fatigue is one of the symptoms that COVID-19 can cause. Photo by Unsplash.
Los symptoms most frequently associated with Long COVID According to the WHO, they are the fatigue, dyspnea and cognitive dysfunction (for example, confusion, memory loss, or lack of concentration and mental clarity). They may persist for months or even years after the initial infection.
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How long can COVID affect the human body?
Most people who develop COVID-19 fully recoverbut the WHO notes that, according to available data, approximately between 10% and 20% of the population experiences various medium- and long-term effects after recovering from the initial COVID-19 illness.
A study led by Dr. Al-Aly and published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the risk of developing Long COVID-19 was declining throughout the pandemic. In 2020when there were no vaccines and the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 was dominant, approximately 10,4% of adults who contracted the virus developed long COVID. In early 2022, With the predominance of Omicron variants, that number was reduced to 7,7% among the unvaccinated and at 3,5% among those vaccinated.
Vaccines significantly reduce the lingering effects of COVID-19. Photo: Reuters.
The decline is mainly attributed to two factors: application of vaccines and the mutations in the virus, which made it less likely to cause severe infections and persist in the human body.
In this context, “the unvaccinated people were more than twice as likely to develop Long COVID-19”, added the epidemiologist from the University of Washington, who stated that, although there are still no precise figures for the rate of long COVID in 2024. It is estimated that more than 65 million people all over the world suffered Long COVID in the first year of the pandemic.
