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37% of people had at least one long-COVID symptom diagnosed in the 3-6 month period after COVID-19 infection. The most common symptoms were breathing problems, abdominal symptoms, fatigue, pain and anxiety/depression.

3D rendered Coronavirus

This new study from the University of Oxford and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) investigated long-COVID in over 270,000 people recovering from COVID-19 infection, using data from the US-based TriNetX electronic health record network.

The study reports on how commonly nine core long-COVID symptoms were diagnosed, and how this rate compared to people recovering from influenza. The nine core long-COVID symptoms, occurring 90-180 days after COVID-19 was diagnosed, comprise:

  • Abnormal breathing – 8%
  • Abdominal symptoms – 8%
  • Anxiety/depression – 15%
  • Chest/throat pain – 6%
  • Cognitive problems (‘brain fog’) – 4%
  • Fatigue – 6%
  • Headache – 5%
  • Myalgia (muscle pain) – 1.5%
  • Other pain – 7%
  • Any of the above features – 37%

Higher rates were seen if the whole 1-180 day period after COVID-19 infection was included.

Read the full story on the University of Oxford website.