37 per cent patients have long Covid symptoms months post recovery: Oxford study

As the world attempts recovery from Covid pandemic with the help of vaccines and other measures,new studies are shedding more light on the occurrence of illness and thus helping strategies to defeat the disease that still has the world in its grips.

A new, comprehensive study has found that 37 per cent (or 1 in 3) Covid patients had at least one long Covid symptom even after three to six months after recovery.

The research was carried out by Oxford University, Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and National Institute for Health Research. The study has been published in journal PLOS Medicine.

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The sample size for the study was huge. 270,000 people recovering from Covid in US were studied.

The study found that most common symptoms of long Covid that persisted after recovery were fatigue, breathing problems, pain and anxiety or depression and abdominal symptoms. It was also found that Long Covid symptoms were more frequent in patients who had been hospitalised. The symptoms were slightly more common in women than men.

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Age factor also mattered and which symptoms patients would have was found to be dependent on their age. Older people and men mainly had cognitive problems and breathing difficulties. Young people and women suffered more from headaches, abdominal symptoms or depression.

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It was also found that Covid patients admitted to hospital were more likely to suffer from cognitive problems such as brain fog and fatigue compared to those who did not need hospitalisation.

Experts have been quoted in media reports as saying that this was a 'large, well-conducted and thorough study'.