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Chinese scientists have published the first study on long COVID three years after the primary infection.
According to the latest study, conducted jointly by teams led by Cao Bin of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Zhang Dingyu, director of Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital, about half of COVID-19 survivors had three years of illness at least one after-effect symptom occurrence of symptoms. .
The most common long-term COVID symptoms were fatigue or muscle weakness and hair loss. The study, published Dec. 21 in the Respiratory Medicine issue of The Lancet, found that compared to survivors without long COVID, those with long COVID had a higher proportion of reinfections and were more susceptible to pneumonia after reinfection .
The study highlighted that three years after onset, most long-term COVID symptoms were mild to moderate and lung function recovered to levels similar to those in matched controls.
Survivors with long COVID had a higher proportion of reinfections and reported new or worsened symptoms three months after infection with Omicron (B.1.1.529) than those without long COVID. Reinfection increased the occurrence of symptoms but had no significant impact on reduced daily activity, as noted in the study.
Although COVID-19 survivors’ organ function improved over time, study scientists warned that people with severe, long-term COVID symptoms, abnormal organ function or reduced mobility should receive urgent attention in future clinical practice and research.
This single-center, longitudinal cohort study recruited participants with confirmed COVID-19 disease who were discharged from Jinyintan Hospital between January 7 and May 29, 2020. Jinyintan Hospital was one of the frontline hospitals in China against SARS-CoV-2.
Participants received three follow-up visits at six months (June 16 to September 13, 2020), one year (December 16, 2020 to February 7, 2021), and two years (November 16, 2021 to January 10, 2022). Appearance after the symptom.
At the one-year follow-up, control subjects from two communities in Wuhan with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection were recruited. At the two-year follow-up, they were matched (1:1) with COVID-19 survivors who had undergone pulmonary function testing.
The study conducted a 3-year follow-up study from February 23, 2023 to April 20, 2023 after the Omicron wave in winter 2022. To this end, eligible COVID-19 survivors and matched community controls were invited to the 2-year follow-up study in the hospital’s outpatient clinic for face-to-face questionnaires, a 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and laboratory tests. A subgroup underwent pulmonary function tests during hospitalization, selected based on disease severity scale.
Survivors with abnormal lung images at 2-year follow-up received further evaluation using high-resolution computed tomography. Participants with and without long COVID at 2 years were identified, and primary outcomes at 3 years of follow-up included subsequent symptoms, Omicron infection, pulmonary function, and chest imaging.
Results showed that of the 1,359 COVID-19 survivors who completed the 2- and 3-year follow-up, 728 (54%) had at least one residual symptom, mostly mild, 3 years after symptom onset, before Omicron infection to light. moderate severity.
During the Omicron wave, participants with long COVID had a significantly higher proportion of reinfections after 2 years (573). [76 percent] 753 against 409 [67 percent] of 606 without long COVID) and pneumonia (27 [5 percent] 568 to seven [2 percent] of 403).
Three months after Omicron infection, 126 (62%) of 204 survivors with 2-year long COVID reported new or worsening symptoms, significantly more than in the non-long COVID group (85). [41 percent] of 205) and community controls (81). [40 percent] of 205). In contrast, no significant differences were found between COVID-19 survivors without long COVID and matched community controls ( 85 ). [41 percent] 205 to 81 [39 percent] of 206).
After 3 years, reinfection was found to be a risk factor for dyspnea, anxiety or depression, and EuroQol visual analogue scale score, but not for a reduction in daily activity. Pulmonary function at 3 years in survivors was similar to matched community controls.
After three years, irregular lines, traction bronchiectasis, subpleural lines, and ground-glass opacity were observed, but the ratio of lung lesion volume to total lung was only 0.2 to 0.3 percent.
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