Have you had COVID before? After a year, 55% of patients still have these symptoms.

COVID-19 has left an indelible impression on American culture. After several months, it was evident that the epidemic was not going away anytime soon. COVID, specialists believe, is something we'll have to learn to live with after more than two years. Long-term symptoms are one component that millions of people are learning to live with. The number of people who suffer from "long COVID" is estimated to be in the millions. It may be greater than previously assumed, according to one study. Read on to learn more, and don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID to protect your health and the health of others.

1 55% of COVID Patients Reported These Symptoms

More than half of persons who had COVID-19 two years later reported long COVID symptoms, according to a recent study of early COVID patients.Scientists looked at more than 1,100 persons in China who were hospitalized for COVID-19 in the first few months of the pandemic for the study, which was published this month in Lancet Respiratory Medicine. They discovered that 68 percent of people had long COVID symptoms six months after infection, and 55 percent had long COVID symptoms two years later.

Dr. David F. Putrino, associate professor of rehabilitation and human performance at Mount Sinai in New York, told Medical News Today, "This is incredibly troubling when we consider that long COVID affects not only hospitalized patients, but also non-hospitalized patients (who were not studied here)." "This research should serve as a warning that death is not the sole devastating outcome of a COVID-19 infection."

2 The Most Common Long COVID Symptoms

Muscle weakness or fatigue, as well as sleep difficulties, were the most common long COVID symptoms, as reported by 31% of research participants. People with long COVID symptoms were also shown to be 62 percent more likely to have mobility issues, more than four times more likely to have pain or discomfort, and more than seven times more likely to have anxiety or depression than people without COVID.

3 What Is Long COVID?

Long COVID (also known as PASC, or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19) is a catch-all term for a variety of symptoms that can develop after COVID-19 infection and last for weeks or months after the illness has passed. Breathing troubles, weariness, and neurological concerns such as brain fog are among them. They can range in severity from inconvenient to debilitating.

It's a serious problem. Other major studies, other from the Chinese study, suggest that 20 to 30 percent of those infected with COVID-19 would acquire protracted COVID. According to the General Accounting Office, between 8 and 23 million Americans have had lengthy COVID so far.

4 New CDC Study Reveals Risk of Long COVID

Although the Chinese study focused on a single group early in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a second study this week that shed new light on COVID's long-term impact in the United States.

According to CDC data from November 2021 to November 2022, one in every five Americans aged 18 to 64 reported a subsequent health issue that could be linked to COVID-19. One in every four persons over the age of 65 was affected. The researchers also discovered that those who have had COVID are twice as likely as those who have not to get a pulmonary embolism [a blood clot in the lungs that can be fatal] or respiratory problems.

"As the total number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 rises, the number of survivors suffering from post-COVID conditions is anticipated to rise as well," the researchers stated. "As a result, implementing COVID-19 prevention methods, as well as routinely assessing persons who survive COVID-19 for post-COVID conditions, is crucial to minimizing the incidence and effect of post-COVID conditions, particularly among adults aged 65 years."

5 How to Stay Safe Out There

No matter where you live, get vaccinated as soon as possible; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, wear a N95 face mask, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you aren't sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, and don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.