Patients With Long COVID Identified By Data

A recent review of more than 800,000 patients has identified certain groups of people who are at an increased risk of long COVID - such as women, smokers and those who had severe COVID-19 infections. The research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, revealed that other factors such as having anxiety, depression, asthma, diabetes and being immunocompromised were also linked to a higher likelihood of getting long COVID. Although further research is needed, one positive finding was that patients who had received two doses of the COVID vaccine had a significantly lower risk of developing long COVID. Stanford University primary care professor Linda Geng, MD, PhD, noted that “while this and other data on vaccines suggest that there are factors that can reduce the risk of long COVID, nothing as of yet can completely eliminate the risk of long COVID. The only guarantee against long COVID is not to get COVID.” It is clear that further research is needed to better understand the extent of long COVID and to develop effective therapy for those already affected.