News: 30% of COVID-19 patients have lingering symptoms six months after infection

Regardless of if patients were asymptomatic or had severe infections, nearly 30% of COVID-19 patients had lingering symptoms six months after the infection onset, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Among the almost one-third of patients who experienced lingering symptoms a median of six months after infection, persistence of fatigue (13.6%) and loss of smell or taste (13.6%) were the most frequently reported symptoms. Ninety percent of those in the study experienced only mild COVID-19 infection, yet still 30% experience lingering symptoms.

In addition to loss of taste/smell and fatigue, 13% reported other symptoms, including brain fog. This was one of the first studies to look at long-term impacts of both very ill and asymptomatic patients, while other studies have focuses on hospitalized patients one to three months after the illness, the letter states.

Editor’s note: To read the JAMA published letter, click here. To read more of ACDIS’ coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here. To read about an earlier study of lingering symptoms 14 days after infection, click here.