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Nearly Four in 10 With Mild COVID-19 Report Symptoms Seven Months Later

Fatigue remains the most common symptom among otherwise healthy people

MONDAY, July 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Residual symptoms after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are common among otherwise young and healthy persons followed in an outpatient setting, according to a study published online July 6 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Mayssam Nehme, M.D., from Geneva University Hospitals in Switzerland, and colleagues assessed symptoms seven to nine months after diagnosis of mild COVID-19 (March 15 to May 15, 2020) using data from 629 individuals who participated in baseline surveys and 410 who completed follow-up surveys and telephone interviews.

The researchers found that seven to nine months after diagnosis, 39.0 percent of respondents reported residual symptoms. The most common symptoms included fatigue (20.7 percent), followed by loss of taste or smell (16.8 percent), dyspnea (11.7 percent), and headache (10.0 percent).

“Recognition of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 and potential predictors is important in reaching a more thorough understanding of the disease and its long-term effects,” the authors write. “With a high prevalence of symptoms at seven to nine months, physicians should continue to monitor patients with COVID-19 over the long term.”

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