British researchers identify three types of long-term COVID-19 in preliminary study | News

The scientists surveyed 1,459 people with long-term COVID who participated in the Zoe Health Study. In that study, participants reported possible Covid symptoms via an app. The study authors spoke of long-term COVID-19 if someone still had symptoms for at least 84 days after being infected.

A preprint of the studythe pre-evaluated version of a scientific paper, argues that people with long-term COVID-19 can be divided into three groups.

The first group is that of people with neurological symptoms, including fatigue, blurriness and headaches. The subtype usually occurs in people who became infected when the dominant variants were alpha and delta.

A second group experienced respiratory symptoms, such as chest pain and shortness of breath. This subtype was especially common in people who became infected during the first wave of the virus, the study shows.

A third group experienced a diverse set of symptoms, such as palpitations, muscle aches, and skin and hair changes. The researchers do say that the three subtypes occurred in all variants.

“These data clearly show that post-covid syndrome is not just one disorder, but has different subtypes,” said lead author Dr Claire Steves of King’s College London.

“Understanding the root causes of these subtypes can help us with treatment strategies. These data also emphasize the importance of a personal approach to lung covid care, with attention to the situation of each individual,” she adds.

In Belgium, the federal scientific institution Sciensano is funding a study into long-term Covid. Of the COVIMPACT project people who tested positive for the coronavirus are followed up for three months to two years. These people look at the evolution of their physical, mental and social health, but also factors that are associated with an (un)favorable evolution.

At the end of June, it turned out that almost half of the 2,000 participants still had at least one symptom that could be linked to Covid-19 three months after the infection. After six months, this was still the case at 32 percent.

The most common persistent symptom was fatigue or exhaustion after three and six months. In both cases, about half of the participants were involved.

This also involves self-reporting by the participants via an online questionnaire.

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