A substantial study conducted by scientists at the University of Oxford, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre has found that one-third of COVID-19 survivors have suffered lingering symptoms for three to six months after their initial infections. 

The Scope of the Problem

After studying the symptoms of nearly 274,000 recovering COVID patients, the researchers discovered that:

• Many patients experienced more than one symptom.
• Breathing problems, abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits, diarrhea, fatigue, pain, anxiety, and depression were among the most common issues reported.
• The above symptoms were detected more often in patients who had been hospitalized and also more frequently in women.
• Older patients and men were more likely to have breathing problems and cognitive issues.
• Younger patients and women reported more headaches, abdominal symptoms, anxiety, and depression.
• Up to 46% of youth between ages 10 and 22 experienced at least one lingering symptom six months after recovery from their acute illness.

Children at Increased Risk

COVID cases among children have soared since July when the highly contagious delta variant became the dominant strain in the U.S. Pfizer-BioNTech has begun to submit vaccine data on children aged five to 11 to the FDA for review, and anticipates submitting an emergency use authorization request within the next few weeks. Making a children’s vaccine available is only part of the equation, of course. Parents taking their children to get vaccinated is the other part. 

Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Bident, encourages everyone who can to get vaccinated as soon as possible. “If that means getting the flu shot in one arm and the COVID shot in the other,” he said, “there is nothing wrong with that.”

*Kottasová, I. and Friend, I. J. (2021, Sep. 29). Long COVID Is a Bigger Problem Than We Thought. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/29/world/coronavirus-newsletter-intl-29-09-21/index.html 

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions.