One of the many worrisome aspects of COVID-19 is that, for many people, symptoms might persist for more than two months (so-called long-haulers). This phenomenon has been well described in patients who were initially hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.

Recently, researchers from Norway examined the incidence of long-term symptoms in patients who were not initially hospitalized with COVID-19 (Blombert B, Mohn KG-I Brokstad KA, et al. Long COVID in a prospective cohort of home-isolated patients. Nat Med. 2021 June 23. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01433-3). The team followed 247 home-isolated COVID-19 patients for six months. They found that 52% (32/61) of home-isolated young adults between 16 and 30 years of age continued to have symptoms six months later, including loss of taste or smell or both (28%), fatigue (21%), dyspnea (13%), impaired concentration (13%), and memory problems (11%). This study further underscores the importance of vaccination in preventing this unusual, persistent, life-altering aspect of this disease.

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Materials in this section are updated as new information and vaccines become available. The Vaccine Education Center staff regularly reviews materials for accuracy.

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