Study finds no signs of ongoing infection, brain damage in long … – University of Minnesota Twin Cities

"In order to improve the care and quality of life for those who experience long-term neurological symptoms after COVID-19, we need to understand the underlying causes of post-COVID condition," senior author Magnus Gisslen, MD, PhD, of the University of Gothenburg, said in the release. "This study provides new insights into the condition, and can thus represent a valuable contribution to ongoing discussions and research."

In the second study, published yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases, University of Bergen researchers in Norway parsed national registry data to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for long COVID at least 3 months after infection.

A total of 53,846 people who tested positive for COVID-19 from February 2020 to February 2021 were compared with 485,757 uninfected matched control participants. The average age was 41 years, 51.6% were men, and most were unvaccinated.

COVID-19 survivors had higher rates of most studied symptoms than controls, with the greatest risks for shortness of breath (hazard ratio [HR], 2.75), fatigue (HR, 2.08), memory loss (HR, 1.41), and headache (HR, 1.39).

Risk factors included outcome symptoms that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the associations were weaker among COVID-19 survivors. Underlying medical conditions weren't tied to fatigue or shortness of breath among the infected, but both the infected and uninfected groups had a slightly higher risk of memory loss, with higher comorbidity scores. Women were more at risk for fatigue and shortness of breath than men in both groups.

Hospitalization for COVID-19 moderately increased the risk for fatigue (relative risk [RR], 1.61) and memory loss (RR, 1.58) but was a marked risk factor for shortness of breath (RR, 2.32) after infection, compared with the nonhospitalized COVID-19 group.

"We found that the risk of fatigue or shortness of breath were more than doubled 3 to 12 months after COVID-19 compared to a control group of unexposed persons," the researchers wrote. "The likelihood for memory disturbance, other respiratory symptoms, pain in abdomen, chest and musculoskeletal system and headache were also significantly higher in the COVID-19 group."

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Study finds no signs of ongoing infection, brain damage in long ... - University of Minnesota Twin Cities