The burden for the health of those recovered from the covid is overwhelming, it is now increasingly clear that the disease does not end with the resolution of the infection, the authors conclude, underlining that the vaccine is currently the main weapon available against infection and therefore also against long-covid. In fact, the persistence of the disease is less likely for those who get vaccinated.
Long covid affects more than one in two patients cured: in fact, according to a large-scale survey published in the journal JAMA Network Open, more than half of those recovered from covid – today 236 million in the world – develop long-term symptoms (which persist even up to six months after recovery).
The study was conducted at Penn State College of Medicine: the researchers sound the alarm to governments pointing out that in the near future health systems will have to cope with a wave of long covid patients to manage for physical and psychological symptoms. The experts conducted the review of data from dozens of studies conducted around the world, totaling 250,351 unvaccinated adults and children who had COVID-19 between December 2019 and March 2021.
79% of the sample was hospitalized, and most of the patients – with an average age of 54 – (79%) live in rich countries. It was found that over half of those recovered had or had symptoms of long-covid. For 50% of them the complained symptoms range from weight loss to fatigue, pain. More than one in 5 of the healed show a reduction in motility; one in 4 difficulty concentrating; one in three develops an anxiety disorder; three out of 5 have lung abnormalities and over one in 4 have breathing difficulties. And yet, almost one in five of the healed complain of hair loss and skin redness.
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