COVID: A study finds that nearly a third of people have lingering symptoms.

Key Takeaways:

• As per a survey of 152,000 folks in Denmark, nearly a third of those infected with the coronavirus report at least one ongoing symptom six to twelve months later.

According to a survey of 152,000 people in Denmark, nearly a third of people report at least one ongoing symptom among 6 and 12 months after their coronavirus infection.

According to the researchers from Denmark's State Serum Institute (SSI), the study includes one of the biggest groups of people who were not hospitalized with COVID and followed those for longer than other major studies.

According to the questionnaire-based study, changes in smell, taste sense, and fatigue were the most commonly reported long-term symptoms.

The survey likened the responses of 61,002 individuals who had tested positive for the coronavirus 6, 9, or 12 months before with those of 91,878 people who had tested negative among September 2020 and April 2021, even before the recent Omicron variant surge.

In total, 29.6% of those who tested positive for HIV reported at least one ongoing physical symptom 6 to 12 months after an infectious disease, compared to only 13% of those in the control group.

Within the 6 to 12 months following infection, just over half of those with positive tests (53.1%) said they had witnessed mental or physical exhaustion, sleep problems, or cognitive problems. In the control group, 11.5 percent were found.

According to the study, new diagnoses of anxiety were also more frequent among those who had previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2.

The research was issued as a pre-print and has yet to be peer-reviewed.

According to study author Anders Peter Hviid, an epidemiology professor at SSI, the findings are yet another sign that policymakers should consider COVID-19's long tail.

"It's something you should consider when weighing the risks and benefits of... the interventions you're making and vaccinations," he said over the phone, emphasizing the need for more research.

The prevalence of what is recognized as long COVID is unknown. The syndrome is known as the Post-COVID-19 condition by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is defined as ongoing symptoms – such as fatigue or shortness of breath – three months after the preliminary infection that lasts at least two months.

The WHO estimates that around 10% and 20% of people are affected by that point and that more research into the long-term prognosis is needed.

The report was "really concerning," according to David Strain, a lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School in the United Kingdom who was not involved in the study.

"Given the number of people who have been exposed to this virus, we could be looking at a major crisis over the next 12 months if Omicron causes long Covid at the same rate as these earlier variants," he said.