The Truth About COVID-19 ‘Long-Haulers’
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- 18.1% of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 also received a first-time psychiatric diagnosis in the 14 to 90 days afterward. Most common were anxiety disorders, insomnia and dementia
- An estimated 10% of patients treated for COVID-19 report fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog and/or chronic pain for three weeks or longer. This phenomenon occurs even among patients who had mild cases of COVID-19
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show the rate of COVID-19 patients who continue experiencing lingering health problems after recovering from acute COVID-19 may be as high as 45%
- Many post-acute COVID-19 patients fit the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS, which has been linked to viral infections
- According to a COVID-19 treatment guide, many of these “long COVID” patients do spontaneously recover — albeit slowly — with holistic support, rest, symptomatic treatment and gradual increase in activity