Are you worried about Long COVID?If you had Omicron, you may be at less risk

Use data from ZOECOVID Symptom Study app, 56,003 Adult cases in the United Kingdom were identified as positive on the first test between 20 December 2021 and 9 March 2022, when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was the predominant strain. I did.

The researchers then compared these cases to the 41,361 cases that were initially positive between June 1, 2021 and November 27, 2021, when the COVID-19 delta mutation was predominant. Did.

They found that nearly 4.5% of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had longer COVIDs, compared to about 11% of cases of the delta variant of COVID-19.

“We know that more severely ill patients are more likely to have longer COVIDs, and that omicron waves lead to less severe symptoms and reduced hospitalization than Delta.” Natalia Cobalbias-EckartMD, Medical Director of the Inpatient Rehabilitation and Post-COVID Rehabilitation Program at Providence St. Jude Medical Center in Orange County, California, told Healthline.

However, since many people were infected with the Omicron mutant of COVID-19 from December 2021 to February 2022, the absolute number of people with long COVID was still high even during the Omicron mutation stage.

Dr. William A. HazeltinFormer professor of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Omicron: From Pandemic to Endemic: The Future of Covid-19At some point, he said that the long COVID was actually suspected of being a psychological state.

“But they were dispelled by some long-term symptoms, especially the serious nature of neurological symptoms,” he said.

“The second thing we understand,” he continued. “Does it mean that acute COVID-19 can cause serious permanent damage to organs?”

Dr. Haseltine said this included damage to the brain and heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and kidneys.

“Another way to define a long COVID is a series of symptoms that follow COVID-19 after the virus has resolved 2-3 months after the virus is gone,” he explained.

According to Haseltine, this definition “30-50% of people will have at least some long-term symptoms within 3-6 months.”

He emphasized that only a small percentage of infected people have very serious life-changing symptoms that last for more than a year.

“These, in my opinion, include damage to certain organs,” he said. “As far as we know, everyone is at risk of long COVID.”

Haseltine explained that the exception to this is the long COVID of the type where someone experiences organ damage.

“Organ damage is likely associated with severe COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, which may require hospitalization in the intensive care unit,” he said.

However, he said that the “traditional symptoms” of brain fog, dyspnea, and extreme fatigue are independent of the severity of the illness, and most people can develop these symptoms. Was emphasized.

“Most people can suffer from these long consequences, regardless of the severity or other existing condition we know,” Haseltine said.

Haseltine confirmed that only one study he saw showed that pre-breakthrough vaccination reduced the incidence of long-term COVIDs, but only about 15 percent.

“That is, there is a breakthrough infection after vaccination and boosting, and you can still get a long COVID,” he said.

Haseltine believes this is most relevant to the current situation in which vaccinated populations appear to be at equal risk of infection as unvaccinated populations.

“That is, they are equivalent and basically not protected from long COVIDs, but have a few edges, like the edges of 15% of protection,” he said.

Haseltine said this is in contrast to the vaccine’s protection of more than 90 percent from serious illness and death.

“Even at the height of the pandemic, at most 1-2 percent of infected people in the United States died,” he said. “By these criteria, more than 1-2 percent of infected people [after] Being vaccinated is very likely to experience lifelong complications of COVID-19, such as long COVID. “

He said this meant brain damage, confusion, and fatigue.

“In a sense, long COVID fatigue is similar to chronic fatigue syndrome,” Haseltine said.

Haseltine believes we will find it as big as that Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) increases long-term COVID-related chronic fatigue.

“Approximately, 150 to 200 million Americans are infected,” he said. “If you have that 2%, that’s a very big number.”

Haseltine also said that this could stress the economy as well as the medical community.

“There are some perceptions that long COVID symptoms are pushing people out of the employment market,” he said.

According to Dr. Covarrubias-Eckardt, treatment depends on the main symptoms.

” Fatigue after exercise“She said,” The pacing strategy is very effective. “

She said that people experiencing “brain fog” can teach memory strategies and techniques to help supplement their condition.

Covarrubias-Eckardt said he was asked if the long COVID-19 would eventually resolve over time for most people and is still learning how long the symptoms will last.

“But I’ve seen a lot of people improve and return to normal activity,” she said.

A new study found that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has a significantly lower risk of causing longer COVIDs than the delta variant of COVID-19.

Experts say that the vast number of people who can experience this condition is having a serious impact on society.

They also say that doctors are still learning about how long the symptoms last, but there are treatment options currently available.