Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

Long Covid Has More Than 200 Symptoms, Study Finds

Long Covid Has More Than 200 Symptoms, Study Finds

The researchers created a web-based survey designed to characterise the symptom profile and time course in patients with confirmed or suspected long COVID, who experience prolonged symptoms.
Patients who experience long COVID report more than 200 symptoms across 10 organ systems, according to the largest global study to date of ''long-haulers'' published on Thursday.

The researchers created a web-based survey designed to characterise the symptom profile and time course in patients with confirmed or suspected long COVID, who experience prolonged symptoms.

With responses from 3,762 eligible participants from 56 countries, the study, published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, identified a total of 203 symptoms in 10 organ systems, of which 66 symptoms were tracked for seven months.

The most common symptoms were fatigue, post-exertional malaise -- worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion -- and cognitive dysfunction, often called brain fog.

Of the diverse range of symptoms, others included visual hallucinations, tremors, itchy skin, changes to the menstrual cycle, sexual dysfunction, heart palpitations, bladder control issues, shingles, memory loss, blurred vision, diarrhoea, and tinnitus.

The researchers are now calling for clinical guidelines on assessing long COVID to be significantly widened beyond currently advised cardiovascular and respiratory function tests.

The assessment should include neuropsychiatric, neurological, and activity intolerance symptoms, they said.

Given the diverse make-up of symptoms that affect multiple organ systems, it is only by detecting the root cause that patients will receive the correct treatment, according the researchers.

"While there has been a lot of public discussion around long COVID, there are few systematic studies investigating this population," said Athena Akrami, a neuroscientist at University College London in the UK, and senior author of the study.

"Relatively little is known about its range of symptoms, and their progression over time, the severity, and expected clinical course (longevity), its impact on daily functioning, and expected return to baseline health," said Akrami.

The survey was open to those aged 18 or over who had experienced symptoms consistent with COVID-19, including those with and without positive SARS-CoV-2 test. It consisted of 257 questions.

In order to characterise long COVID symptoms over an extended duration, analysis of survey data was limited to respondents with illnesses lasting longer than 28 days and whose onset of symptoms occurred between December 2019 and May 2020.

Previous studies have estimated that one in seven people have some symptoms 12 weeks after a positive test result or almost 30 per cent of people 12 weeks after symptomatic disease.

In this long COVID cohort, the probability of symptoms lasting beyond 35 weeks was 91.8 per cent.

Of the 3,762 respondents, 3,608 (96 per cent) reported symptoms beyond 90 days, 2,454 (65 per cent) experienced symptoms for at least 180 days and only 233 had recovered.

In those who recovered in less than 90 days, the average number of symptoms peaked at week two, and for those who did not recover in 90 days, the average number of symptoms peaked at month two.

Respondents with symptoms over six months experienced an average of 13.8 symptoms in month seven.

During their illness, participants experienced an average of 55.9 symptoms, across an average of 9.1 organ systems.

"For the first time this study shines a light on the vast spectrum of symptoms, particularly neurological, prevalent and persistent in patients with long COVID," Akrami said.

"Memory and cognitive dysfunction, experienced by over 85 per cent of respondents, were the most pervasive and persisting neurologic symptoms, equally common across all ages, and with substantial impact on work," the scientist said.

The researchers acknowledged several limitations to the study. First, the retrospective nature of the study exposes the possibility of recall bias.

Second, as the survey was distributed in online support groups, there exists a sampling bias towards long COVID patients who joined support groups and were active participants of the groups at the time the survey was published.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×