Chronic symptoms in the most ill
Those who suffer longterm symptoms from Covid are those who were ill for a week or more. Photo/Landspítalinn hospital
The risk of long-term physical symptoms is higher in those who became seriously ill with the disease. This is the conclusion of a new study which involved nearly 65 thousand adults in Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
In the study, the prevalence of physical symptoms in subjects who became ill with Covid-19 was examined and compared to those who had not received a confirmed diagnosis.
The frequency of chronic physical symptoms, such as shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, headache and lack of energy, was 37% higher in those who had been diagnosed with Covid-19 than in those who were not diagnosed.
Those who were diagnosed with Covid-19 and were bedridden for a week or more were twice as likely to experience long-term physical symptoms as individuals without a diagnosis. This group had most persistent symptoms up to two years after diagnosis.
The frequency of long-term symptoms was similar to those who were never bedridden during infection.
“We think the results indicate that there is a certain roadmap for which individuals need to be followed and which individuals need to be alert to chronic symptoms,” says Unnur Ösp Valdimarsdóttir, professorof epidemiology at the University of Iceland, who led the project and who is interviewed in Morgunblaðið today.
