Long COVID May Significantly Shorten The Lifespans Of MAGAts

Long COVID: 'Numbers are all over the map,' doctor says, and that's an issue

 There’s still a lot to be learned about the long-term effects of the coronavirus — otherwise known as long COVID.

“We need better data on long COVID,” Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a former White House health policy advisor, said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “We don’t know its frequency. Numbers are all over the map. We have some recent data that suggests that if you get a vaccine, you do better. And the question is: If you get a vaccine soon after you get infected, does that help?"

An estimated 22.6 million Americans are currently struggling with long COVID, according to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPMR), which uses a model that assumes 30% of COVID-19 survivors have long COVID.

An estimated 30% of COVID survivors develop long COVID. (Chart: AAMPR)

Scientists are unsure why long COVID happens and why it affects some individuals and not others. According to the Associated Press, there are three potential theories: the infection or virus remnants linger past the initial illness, which triggers inflammation; latent viruses in the body are reactivated by the presence of COVID; and acute COVID-19 triggers autoimmune responses.

In any case, vaccines seem to help: According to one study conducted in the UK, those who are vaccinated against COVID are 50% less likely to report symptoms of long COVID.

“We need to also look at how long those [long COVID] side effects last," Emanuel added. "Do they go away? What proportion of people go away? We don’t have that kind of long-term data. It’s a little surprising we don’t have it because we’ve known about long COVID for a year and a half. Half a year into COVID, we knew people were having persistent symptoms. We should have started big studies right then and there. And by a year later, 15 months later, we should have that kind of data.”

In December 2020, Congress allocated $1.15 billion over four years to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study long COVID.

Doctor Nicolas Barizien talks with a patient who has been suffering from long COVID symptoms for months, during a rehabilitation medical appointment near Paris, France, December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

'We don't really know what Omicron is going to do'

Long COVID symptoms include fatigue, “brain fog,” and heart palpitations to autoimmune conditions.

A study published in The Lancet that looked at long COVID patients from 56 different countries, including the U.S., found that 96% of the participants still had symptoms 90 days after testing positive for the virus, with the most common symptoms being fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and cognitive dysfunction. And 45.2% had to reduce their work schedule as a result while 22.3% had to stop working altogether.

As of July 2021, long COVID is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

And now that Omicron is the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the U.S., new questions arise about long COVID. The variant, while less severe for vaccinated individuals than previous variants, is significantly more transmissible and has led to record numbers of cases and hospitalizations.

“We don't really know what Omicron is going to do in terms of long COVID,” Dr. Ellen Eaton, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Division of Infectious Disease, previously told Yahoo Finance. “We’re seeing mild upper respiratory-type infections, colds in people who are fully vaccinated who have breakthrough infections. But we don’t know what they’ll look like in a month. Will they have fatigue? Will they have headaches? Will they have long COVID symptoms where they’re going to need more time off work?"

Adriana Belmonte is a reporter and editor covering politics and health care policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at adriana@yahoofinance.com.