Long Covid Statistics

Debate remains over long Covid and global response to future disease outbreak

What does the data say?

A new CDC study published Monday found that more than 1 million children were affected by long COVID in 2023. Higher levels were found in lower-income households.

Researchers found that COVID-19 had a higher long-term mortality than influenza and RSV in veterans—underscoring vaccination’s vital role.

Although long-term nursing home stay or death decreased before the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend slowed during the pandemic across all racial and ethnic groups.

The US government is literally erasing the existence of Long COVID. — Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran)

Just under two percent of all new IV registrations are due to Long Covid. A study commissioned by the federal government shows that those affected were awarded a pension more frequently than people without Long Covid.

Background The long-term effects of COVID-19, which can vary significantly in type and timing, are considered relevant and impacting on the well-being of individuals. The present study aims to assess the incidence of outpatient care in the post-acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection in two Italian regions. Methods The study has a multicentre, population-based, pre-post, repeated measures design to compare the incidence rate of access to outpatient visits and diagnostics before and after SARS-CoV-2 infection, considering a follow-up of 24 months. The study made use of previously recorded large-scale healthcare data available in the administrative databases of the Emilia-Romagna (E-R) and Veneto regions. Analyses were carried out separately in the two regions and results were pooled using random effects meta-analysis. Results There were 27,140 subjects in E-R and 22,876 in Veneto who were included in the analysis. The pooled outputs showed an increase in rates of outpatient visits and diagnostics starting from month 2 after SARS-CoV-2 infection (IRR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.56–1.81) with a peak at month 4 (IRR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.95–2.15); the increase continued with reduced intensity up to month 15. Stratified analysis revealed that subjects with severe acute COVID-19 had a higher increase in rates (up to IRR = 3.96, 95% CI = 2.89–5.44), as well as patients with no comorbidities (up to IRR = 2.71, 95% CI = 2.60–2.83). Conclusion Long-term effects of COVID-19 include an increase in the healthcare burden especially in the first months after the acute infection. The increased demand for resources can last up to two years after infection in particular subgroups of patients such as subjects admitted to hospital during the acute phase due to the severe presentation of the disease.

COVID-19 hospitalization was twice as likely as that for flu, and death rates were 3 times higher.

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The current health and economic burden of Long COVID may already exceed that of a number of other chronic disease and will continue to grow each year as there are more and more COVID-19 cases. This could be a significant drain on businesses, third party payers, the healthcare system, and all of soci …

The COVID-19 pandemic has reported significant alarming aftereffects experienced by some individuals following acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, common...

UK Research and Innovation and National Institute for Health Research. The study was approved by the Leeds West Research Ethics Committee (20/YH/0225) and is registered on the ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN10980107).

The study provides insights into the complex dynamics of mortality during the COVID-19 crisis, emphasising the need to consider individual-level information on pre-existing health and social background jointly.

Racial/ethnic differences are associated with the symptoms and conditions of post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) in adults. These differences may exist among children and warrant further exploration. We conducted a retrospective cohort study with difference-in-differences analyzes to ass …

Females have a 31% higher associated risk of developing long COVID, UT Health San Antonio-led RECOVER study shows

Nearly one in 20 people who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection go on to experience myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, an NIH-funded study showed.

New research finds levels of the chronic condition are now 15 times higher than pre-pandemic.

This study verified moderate coffee consumption, including decaffeination, can provide a new guideline for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Based on the results, we also suggest a coffee-drinking plan for people to prevent infection in the post-COVID-19 era.

Post‑COVID‑19 syndrome (or long‑COVID) was recognized as a clinical entity as early as in the spring of 2020, when it was documented that a non‑negligible number of patients with COVID‑19 continued to exhibit symptoms several weeks following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) infection. Although in the beginning of the COVID‑19 pandemic it was considered that almost all SARS‑CoV‑2 infections in children and adolescents were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, it was duly noted that children and adolescents may also experience prolonged symptoms and may therefore also manifest post‑COVID syndrome. It was subsequently noted that post‑COVID syndrome in children may involve multiple organs and systems and persist, in the majority of cases, for several months; however, in some cases symptoms persisted even following 1 year of follow‑up. There is also evidence to indicate that children with post‑COVID syndrome are at an increased risk of developing anxiety, depression or loss of appetite, while the overall impact of post‑COVID syndrome on the developmental and psychological domain and overall well‑being of children remains largely unknown. The present review discusses the current state of knowledge on post‑COVID syndrome in children and compares it with that of adults. Issues of pathogenesis, prognosis, the role of vaccination and implications for future research are also discussed.

This analysis article aimed to identify and analyze all articles published on the post-COVID-19 condition in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and risk of bias. We did a systematic survey of the literature with broad inclusion criteria. The only exc …

Objective To estimate the number of people in Australia with long COVID by age group, and the associated medium term productivity and economic losses. Study design Modelling study: a susceptible–e...

A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine reveals that infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, significantly increases the rate of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) among COVID-19 survivors.

Although the association between HIV and long COVID was inconclusive, the prevalence of long COVID in patients with HIV was high.

Study highlights a fourfold increase in ME/CFS risk among COVID-19 patients, with 89% of post-COVID ME/CFS cases overlapping with severe long COVID symptom clusters.

Participants who received at least 1 COVID-19 vaccine booster dose had a 30% lower risk of long-COVID symptoms than their unvaccinated peers.

A meta-analysis of 429 studies published from 2021 to 2024 estimated a pooled global long COVID prevalence of 35 percent in COVID-19 positive individuals. The findings, titled Global Prevalence of Long COVID, its Subtypes and Risk Factors: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, were posted...