Lauren Dempsey, MS in Biomedicine and Law, RN, FISM News
The CDC has released a new report on long-COVID conditions in adults aged 18 and older who have survived COVID-19. Scientists evaluated millions of electronic health records of patients and compared those that received a COVID-19 diagnosis with those that did not. Researchers discovered that one in five COVID-19 survivors aged 18 to 64 years old and one in four survivors older than 65 years old experienced persistent symptoms that could be attributable to their previous COVID-19 infection.
The data from the study revealed that between 30 days and one year post COVID-19 infection, 38% of patients developed new health issues when compared to 16% of individuals who were not infected. In individuals aged 65 and older, 45% developed new health issues when compared to 19% that did not have an infection. Researchers also discovered that the risk of long-COVID symptoms in people aged 18 to 64 was 110% higher than those who had never had a prior COVID infection, and in those that were aged 65 and older the risk was between 20% and 120% higher.
The CDC recommends vaccination as a preventative measure, saying that vaccinated individuals that have breakthrough infections are less likely to have long-COVID when compared to the unvaccinated. However, vaccination status was not considered in this analysis along with other factors such as SARS-CoV-2 variants, gender, race, ethnicity, healthcare entity or geographic region.
This recommendation is also contradictory to new scientific evidence published in Nature Medicine which shows that vaccination provides a very small amount of protection from long-COVID by lowering the risk to about 15%. The study included more than 13 million people, with the team finding that there was no difference in the type or severity of symptoms in vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals. Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly said, “Those same fingerprints we see in people who have breakthrough infections.”
It was previously thought that vaccinated individuals were 50% less likely to develop long-COVID, which is found more often in those that had severe illness. It was estimated that about 30% of individuals that were infected have developed long-COVID. However, a study that included about 4.5 million people that were treated at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) hospitals suggests that the actual number is closer to 7%.
While research is producing more information on who is most likely to get long-COVID, typical symptoms and how to treat it, researchers still do not know what causes the syndrome or how long it lasts. There is no official clinical definition or test that can identify long-COVID; rather, it is a myriad of lingering symptoms that develop after having COVID-19, usually occurring four or more weeks after the initial infection. Long-COVID is also referred to as long-haul COVID, post-COVID syndrome, post-acute COVID-19, long-term effects of COVID or chronic COVID.
Researchers are looking at possible causes of long-COVID, conducting research on viral remnants in tissues causing chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, dysregulation, and reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus. Symptoms are wide-ranging, with one study identifying more than 200 different symptoms, including hallucinations, tremors, and tinnitus. Most commonly reported symptoms are fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, shortness of breath, palpitations, depression and anxiety. Some patients report symptoms that are disabling, preventing them from returning to work or performing activities of daily living.
UC Davis Health has been a pioneer in trying to treat long-COVID symptoms. Physicians at the clinic implement a variety of non-traditional approaches, such as exercise acupuncture, meditation and nutrition to help address fatigue, concentration, and shortness of breath.
The CDC is committed to continue working to find a cause of long-COVID, which will improve treatment. The agency recommends implementing prevention strategies and routine assessment to reduce the impact and incidence of long-COVID.