One in 20 infected with mild Covid in the first wave are STILL battling illness, study shows US scientists said this translates to 41 more health problems per 1,000 people READ MORE: Health chiefs issue alert over new Covid variant 'FLiRT' By Emily Stearn, Health Reporter For Mailonline Published: 10:50 BST, 31 May 2024 | Updated: 10:50 BST, 31 May 2024 e-mail 28 View comments One in 20 people infected with mild Covid in the first wave of the pandemic were left with lingering symptoms up to three years later, research has suggested. US scientists found respiratory and neurological issues were the common problems still reported by those struck down with the virus in 2020. And the researchers, who tracked more than 135,000 Americans with Covid, also discovered a 34 per cent higher risk of problems with all organs among people hit hardest with Covid and hospitalised.
Experts today labelled the findings an 'important new lesson' and warned the virus 'should not be trivialized'. Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University and senior author of the study said: 'We aren't sure why the virus's effects linger for so long. 'Possibly it has to do with viral persistence, chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction or all the above.
'We tend to think of infections as mostly short-term illnesses with health effects that manifest around the time of infection. 'Our data challenges this notion. I feel Covid continues to teach us — and this is an important new lesson — .
