Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sought medical care for post-COVID health problems that they had not been diagnosed with before becoming infected with the coronavirus, according to the largest study to date of long-term symptoms in COVID-19 patients.
More than half of the 1,959,982 patients whose records were evaluated reported no symptoms from their COVID infection. Forty percent had symptoms but didn’t require hospitalization, including 1% whose only symptom was loss of taste or smell; only 5% were hospitalized. “Some of these manifestations are chronic conditions that will last a lifetime and will forever scar some individuals and families,” added Al-Aly, who was an author of a large study published in April of lingering symptoms in COVID patients in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system.
Relatively few deaths — 594 — occurred 30 days or more post-COVID, and most were among people who had been hospitalized for their coronavirus infection, the report found. For example, neurological or cognitive issues like brain fog may be underreported because doctors may not find an appropriate diagnostic code or patients may not be seeking medical help for that specific issue, FAIR Health said.