Early in the pandemic, many people who had SARS-Cov-2 infection or COVID-19 began to report that they couldn't shake off their symptoms even after a month or more-;unusually long for a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract-;or developed new, persistent symptoms soon after the infection cleared. Although it's still not clear what causes post-COVID-19 conditions or "long COVID" (symptoms and conditions that develop, linger, or reoccur weeks or months after SARS-CoV-2 infection), a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons confirms the high burden of long COVID and sheds light on who's at greatest risk. The study found that people with a milder infection-;including those who were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and those who were infected with an Omicron variant-;were more likely to recover quickly.
Recovery time was similar for subsequent infections. Our study underscores the important role that vaccination against COVID has played, not just in reducing the severity of an infection but also in reducing the risk of long COVID." Elizabeth C.
Oelsner, Study Lead Author and Herbert Irving Associate Professor of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center The study involved over 4,700 participants from the Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID 19 Research(C4R), who were asked to report their time to recovery after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The study found that, between 2020 and early 2023, the median recovery time .
