Almost half of Covid patients are dealing with symptoms up to 18 months after coming down with the virus, new research has found.
One in 20 people who took part in ongoing research in Scotland had not recovered from having Covid-19 at their most recent follow up, ranging between six and 18 months after infection.
The findings are part of the first results from the Long-CISS (Covid In Scotland Study). The effort, led by the University of Glasgow, is one of the largest studies about the long-term effects of coronavirus.
The study published in the journal Nature Communications also found promising results.
For one, people who experienced no symptoms had no long-term impact. Further, getting vaccination before catching Covid appeared to lend protection from some long-term symptoms.
However, for people with Long Covid, researchers found the impact of symptoms were wide-ranging, impacting all aspects of daily life, and reducing their overall quality of life.
Long Covid symptoms were more likely following severe infections requiring hospitalisation. The most reported signs included breathlessness, chest pain, palpitations, and confusion, or 'brain fog'.
The condition was more likely in people who were older, female and those from deprived communities. In addition, those with pre-existing physical and mental health problems, such as respiratory disease and depression, were also more likely to experience Long Covid.
Whilst people's recovery status remained constant over the follow-up period for most, 13% of people reported improvement over time and 11% reported some deterioration.
The CISS study used a Scottish population cohort of 33,281 laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, matched with 62,957 never-infected individuals from the general population. Researchers followed up with both groups with six, 12 and 18-month questionnaires.
"While most people recover quickly and completely after infection with Covid-19, some people develop a wide variety of long-term problems. Therefore, understanding Long Covid is essential to inform health and social care support," said Professor Jill Pell, professor of public health at the University of Glasgow, who led the study.
"Our study is important because it adds to our understanding of long-COVID in the general population, not just in those people who need to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19. By comparing symptoms with those uninfected, we were able to distinguish between health problems that are due to COVID-19 and health problems that would have happened anyway."
"This study provides novel and important evidence on long-COVID in Scotland," added Dr Andrew McAuley, Consultant Healthcare Scientist at Public Health Scotland.
"We know that being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can reduce the likelihood of developing long-COVID and therefore we encourage those who are eligible for the COVID vaccine to take the opportunity to enhance their protection by getting vaccinated.”
The study is being conducted in collaboration with Public Health Scotland, NHS Scotland, and the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh. It is funded by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.
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