Long-Term Symptoms Among Adults Tested for SARS-CoV-2 — U.S. January 2020–April 2021

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Wanga, Valentine ; Chevinsky, Jennifer R. ; Dimitrov, Lina V. ; Gerdes, Megan E. ; Whitfield, Geoffrey P. ; Bonacci, Robert A. ; Nji, Miriam A.M. ; Hernandez-Romieu, Alfonso C. ; Rogers-Brown, Jessica S. ; McLeod, Tim ; Rushmore, Julie ; Lutfy, Caitlyn ; Bushman, Dena ; Koumans, Emilia ; Saydah, Sharon ; Goodman, Alyson B. ; Coleman King, Sallyann M. ; Jackson, Brendan R. ; Cope, Jennifer R.
• Description:
  Long-term symptoms often associated with COVID-19 (post-COVID conditions or long COVID) are an emerging public health concern that is not well understood. Prevalence of post-COVID conditions has been reported among persons who have had COVID-19 (range = 5%-80%), with differences possibly related to different study populations, case definitions, and data sources (1). Few studies of post-COVID conditions have comparisons with the general population of adults with negative test results for SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19, limiting ability to assess background symptom prevalence (1). CDC used a nonprobability-based Internet panel established by Porter Novelli Public Services* to administer a survey to a nationwide sample of U.S. adults aged ≥18 years to compare the prevalence of long-term symptoms (those lasting >4 weeks since onset) among persons who self-reported ever receiving a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result with the prevalence of similar symptoms among persons who reported always receiving a negative test result. The weighted prevalence of ever tTesting positive for SARS-CoV-2 was 22.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 20.6%-23.8%). Approximately two thirds of respondents who had received a positive test result experienced long-term symptoms often associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Compared with respondents who received a negative test result, those who received a positive test result reported a significantly higher prevalence of any long-term symptom (65.9% versus 42.9%), fatigue (22.5% versus 12.0%), change in sense of smell or taste (17.3% versus 1.7%), shortness of breath (15.5% versus 5.2%), cough (14.5% versus 4.9%), headache (13.8% versus 9.9%), and persistence (>4 weeks) of at least one initially occurring symptom (76.2% versus 69.6%). Compared with respondents who received a negative test result, a larger proportion of those who received a positive test result reported believing that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine made their long-term symptoms better (28.7% versus 15.7%). Efforts to address post-COVID conditions should include helping health care professionals recognize the most common post-COVID conditions and optimize care for patients with persisting symptoms, including messaging on potential benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Aged CoronaVirus Infections COVID-19 COVID-19 Testing Female Humans Male Middle Aged SARS-CoV-2 Young Adult

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• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 70(36):1235-1241
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/MMWRmm7036a1
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  34499626
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8437054
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  7 pdf pages
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  36
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:84da6a8cde4f3657b84d7980e9bd95f99adcb46eae29e1fe9390ab20215231c18fce21fccb4944569f8de19c7c3416c3b525ba897b49fe59c3523b6531c6d3b4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/110238/cdc_110238_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 188.08 KB ]