New research highlights the need for a more specific definition of long-COVID, as nearly one in five SARS-CoV-2 negative patients also reported long-term symptoms, raising concerns about overdiagnosis. Study: Telomere length exhibits inverse association with migraine among Americans aged 20–50 years, without implications beyond age 50: a cross-sectional study . Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock A study published in the journal Nature Communications provides an overview of post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms among emergency department patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly burdened global healthcare and economic systems, with more than 775 million reported infections worldwide. A large proportion of COVID-19 survivors are still experiencing persistent or recurring symptoms, which the World Health Organization (WHO) collectively defines as the post-COVID or long-COVID condition. According to the WHO definition, long-COVID occurs in individuals with a history of suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The long-COVID symptoms, which an alternative diagnosis cannot explain, typically appear three months after the onset of COVID-19 and last for at least two months. Vaccination status had no protective effect: The study found no significant difference in long-COVID outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients, suggesting that vacci.