While most individuals sickened by COVID-19 will recover, other ‘long-haulers’ may still suffer from symptoms months after their infection.
Even as more people get vaccinated and the U.S. inches back toward normalcy, long COVID isn’t going away anytime soon. The post-COVID condition, recognized by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is defined by a wide-range of symptoms of illness weeks or months after an initial coronavirus infection. In the past year, research has grown in this area and patients with long COVID have formed support groups and lobbied on Capitol Hill for answers and funding for more research.
Here’s what to know:
What is long COVID?
Long COVID is a condition that occurs when individuals sickened by COVID-19 don’t recover fully after a few weeks or manage to recover, only to have symptoms reappear weeks or months later. It can affect anyone who has had COVID, even if they had mild or no symptoms. Continue reading.