More severe acute COVID-19 illness, comorbidities, being unvaccinated all associated with higher risk for long symptoms<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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THURSDAY, Jan. 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Health care utilization is increased in the six months following COVID-19 infection, but vaccination can lower the risk for long COVID symptoms, according to a study published online Jan. 18 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Stephanie A. Richard, Ph.D., from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues sought to identify characteristics associated with persistent post-COVID-19 symptoms. The analysis included data from 1,832 adult U.S. military health system beneficiaries who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from Feb. 28, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2021, and were followed for one year.<\/p>\n The researchers found that more than one-third of participants (39.7 percent) had illness that lasted 28 days or longer (28 to 89 days: 19.9 percent; \u00e2\u0089\u00a590 days: 19.9 percent). Symptoms lasting \u00e2\u0089\u00a528 days were more common among participants who were unvaccinated prior to infection, reported moderate or severe initial illnesses, had more hospitalized days, and had a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of \u00e2\u0089\u00a55. Postinfection vaccination among unvaccinated participants was associated with a lower risk for reporting symptoms at six months. At six months after symptom onset, participants had a higher risk for pulmonary, neurological, and mental health-related medical encounters than before SARS-CoV-2 infection.<\/p>\n “Our findings suggest that post-COVID-19 conditions present a major burden to patients and the health care systems that treat them,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to either Janssen or AstraZeneca.<\/p>\n