May 26, 2023 – About 10% of individuals infected with Omicron reported having Long COVID, a lower percentage than people infected with earlier strains of the coronavirus, in response to a study Published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The research team examined data from 8,646 adults who were infected with COVID-19 at various points within the pandemic, in addition to 1,118 adults who didn’t have COVID.
“Based on a subset of 2,231 patients in this analysis who had a first COVID-19 infection on or after December 1, 2021, when the omicron variant was circulating, approximately 10% experienced long-term symptoms, or Long COVID, after six months,” the National Institutes of Health said in a Press release.
People who weren’t vaccinated or who had been infected with COVID before Omicron were more more likely to have long COVID disease and more severe cases, in response to the NIH.
Previous studies have found higher values of over 10% in individuals with long Covid.
In June 2022, for instance, CDC said that 1 in 5 Americans who had COVID suffered from Long COVID. And a study from Oxford University study A study published in September 2021 found that greater than a 3rd of patients suffered from long-COVID symptoms.
In the newest study, scientists identified 12 symptoms that distinguished individuals with and without COVID. Scientists developed a symptom scoring system to determine a threshold to discover individuals with long COVID, the NIH said.
The symptoms were fatigue, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, upset stomach, palpitations, problems with sexual desire or performance, lack of sense of smell or taste, thirst, chronic cough, chest pain, and abnormal movements. Another symptom was post-exertional malaise or worse symptoms after mental or physical exercise.
There are still many unanswered questions in science about long COVID, akin to how many individuals turn into infected and why some people turn into sick and others don’t.
The study was coordinated as a part of the NIH's RECOVER (Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery) initiative, which goals to know learn how to define, detect and treat long COVID.
“Researchers hope this study is the next step toward potential treatments for Long COVID, which affects the health and well-being of millions of Americans,” the NIH said.