Red flag symptoms that can mean you have long Covid - as millions suffer

30 May 2023 , 18:10

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Patients of long Covid have reported a wide range of symptoms (Image: Getty Images)

A new study has identified the eleven most distinctive symptoms of long Covid as millions continue to suffer from the lasting impacts of infection.

Some people hit with coronavirus early on, as the pandemic swept across the world, are still suffering sometimes dilapidating health problems.

A loss of sexual desire and capacity, brain fog and dizziness were among the key indicators you could be suffering from long Covid.

The new study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and set out to define long Covid in a manageable way.

According to the study the eleven most distinctive symptoms were:

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• Fatigue, especially after exercise
• Brain fog
• Dizziness
• Gastrointestinal symptoms
• Heart palpitations

A key reported symptom has been issues with sexual desire or capacity (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

• Issues with sexual desire or capacity
• Loss of smell or taste
• Thirst
• Chronic cough
• Chest pain
• Abnormal movements

In the study each self-reported symptom was given a score and if any patient who got a score of 12 or more "very likely has long COVID," one of the researchers in the study told USA Today.

Dr. Leora Horwitz, who helped lead the research from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

She added: "It doesn't mean these symptoms are the most common, or the most severe, or the most burdensome, or the most important to people.

"It just means that these are the ones that help us identify people who have long-term consequences."

Heart palpitations have been reported (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The study hasn't worked out whether people with long COVID can be classified into different groups according to their symptoms, Dr Horwitz said.

The study surveyed nearly 10,000 Americans and found long Covid was more common among people infected before the emergence of the omicron variant.

The effects of long Covid can last weeks, months, or years., according to the CDC.

Although it has been documented more often in people who had a severe bout of Covid, anyone who has been infected can experience it.

The CDC also say that unvaccinated people "may have a higher risk of developing Long COVID compared to people who have been vaccinated."

Each time people catch Covid there is a chance of developing long Covid.

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