COVID-19 long haul symptoms have emerged as an additional concern lately. While physiological symptoms are common, frequent neurologic complaints and post-COVID psychosis are the most alarming aftermath symptoms.
The long-term effect of this infectious viral disease seems to affect the mental and physical health of otherwise healthy adults between the age of 30 to 50 with no prior mental health history. Here is a list of the top 7 COVID-19 long-haul symptoms reported and outlined by researchers.
What are COVID-19 Long-Haul Symptoms?
About 50 to 80 percent of people reported experiencing lingering after-effects for up to 3-months or more after recovering from the coronavirus disease. The prolonged symptoms are common among adults who were hospitalized with severe COVID-19. More than 65% of the patients have reported experiencing some long-haul symptoms after getting released from the hospital. Apart from physical symptoms like fatigue, cough, headache, and weakness post-COVID-19, there are many reported brain-fog or cognitive dysfunction cases. All these aftermath effects of the coronavirus disease are COVID-19 long-haul symptoms.
What Researchers Have to Say?
Reports sourced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and British researchers reveal that about 10 percent of all COVID-19 survivors experience long-term health problems. Based on the preliminary research focusing on non-hospitalized people, over 27 percent reported persistent symptoms even after 60 days post coronavirus infection. While some post-infection physical symptoms were common among both men and women, the latter group was also more likely to report long-haul symptoms. In fact, 72 percent of COVID-19 long-haulers were women.
Top Seven COVID-19 Long Haul Symptoms:
Of the many long-term symptoms, here are the top seven symptoms based on the number of reported cases.
Mental Health | Neurologic Symptoms:
- Cognitive Dysfunction: (Reported by 81%)
One of the top long-haul post-covid symptoms includes “brain fog” or “Cognitive Dysfunction.” Patients recovering from severe coronavirus disease have several neurologic complaints, including difficulty in thinking, headache, sleeplessness, and dizziness with brain fog.
- Depression and Anxiety: (Reported by 47%)
A clinical study on a group of patients, who had severe COVID-19 symptoms, revealed depression and anxiety in 47% of them. Uncertainty, financial situation, and persistently debilitating symptoms often lead to insomnia, stress, and anxiety, causing depression eventually.
Non-Neurologic Symptoms:
- Persistent headache and dizziness (Reported by 68%)
- Numbness or tingling (Reported by 60%)
- Loss of smell and taste (Reported by 59%)
- Muscle pain and fatigue (Reported by 55%)
- Blurred vision and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) (Reported by 29%)
Severe Long-Haul Symptoms:
- Shortness of breath and chest pain (Reported by 37%)
- Variation of heart rate and blood pressure (Reported by 30%)
- Gastrointestinal complaints (Reported by 29%)
- Lung scarring
Can Vaccines Help?
It can be very frustrating for those who experience lingering COVID-19 symptoms months after the infection. But can a COVID-19 vaccine help long-haulers? Many long-haulers actually have reported a lessening of post-infection symptoms after the first dosage. Studies also claim that leftover viral fragments may be the primary reason for the long-term effects. Here is a detailed report.
While vaccines may positively affect the COVID-19 long-haul symptoms, there are no specific studies on this to support this fact. It is highly recommended to reach out to your primary healthcare practitioners if you are experiencing physical or mental discomfort months after the infection. Employers should work with their employees and provide support as deemed necessary before allowing them to return to work post-COVID.
With over 20+ years of experience in employee health and safety programs, Axiom Medical can help employers with COVID-19 Safety and Compliance Programs. We specialize in COVID-19 screening, employee contagious respiratory illness assessment, CheckIn2Work daily attestation, and employee vaccination programs with onsite COVID-19 vaccine administration. As a part of our COVID-19 Response Program, our Health Safety Supervisors (HSS), COVID Compliance Officers (CCO), and nurse testers oversee the onsite testing and workplace safety implementation processes.
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With a career focused on digital marketing, Chitra is a specialized SEO-Content marketer. After moving from biotechnology to business operations and marketing, Chitra started her digital marketing career as a freelance content developer and technical writer. With Axiom, as a content marketing & SEO specialist, she is passionate about creating informative marketing copies for optimum search engine performance.
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