Scientists Say This Lowers Your Risk of Long COVID by 72% – Prevention Magazine

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Thats the main takeaway from a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. For the study, researchers analyzed medical records of nearly 450,000 people from the Department of Veterans Affairs health system who had COVID-19 diagnosed between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022. Those patients were compared with around 4.7 million people who werent diagnosed with COVID-19 during the same time.

The researchers found that the lowest rates of long COVID (3.5%) were in people who were vaccinated against COVID-19. Of the people who were unvaccinated, 7.8% developed long COVID.

The study covered the original COVID-19 strain, along with Delta and Omicron strains. (The variants circulating nowlike LB.1 and FLiRT variants are off-shoots of the Omicron strain.) The rates of long COVID dropped over time, regardless of whether people were vaccinated, but the researchers said that was likely due to a combination of changes in the virus and other factors. Overall, the researchers found that the vaccine was responsible for nearly 72% of the drop in cases.

Meet the experts: Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Its important to point out that the vaccine wasnt perfect at preventing long COVIDsome people who were vaccinated still developed long COVID, and some people with minor cases of COVID-19 went on to develop long COVID. But the vaccine did seem to be a major factor in lowering peoples risk of developing long COVID.

So, whats behind this? Doctors break it down.

Doctors have long recommended the COVID-19 vaccine to help lower the risk of developing long COVID, but data on how effective this is has been mixed.

In 2022, the United Kingdoms Health Security Agency released a scientific review of 15 studies and found that while most of the studies found that vaccinated people who contracted COVID-19 were less likely than their unvaccinated counterparts to develop long COVID, a few studies didnt find that the vaccine made a difference.

Why might the vaccine help? There are a few potential reasons. One is that the vaccine helps to lower the risk of developing severe illness, and severe illness is linked with a greater risk of having long COVID.

Current findings indicate that it has to do with the creation of chronic inflammation, says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Having COVID-19 can cause a strong inflammatory response, especially if you have a severe case, he says. If the vaccine tamps down on that inflammatory response, the risk of long COVID is also reduced, Dr. Schaffner says.

Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agrees. Vaccination induces ones immune system to mount a robust response against the virus, he says. The immune response may be the major factor in how the virus interacts with the host and a better immune response may preclude the development of long COVID in some manner.

But scientists still dont really know what the cause of long COVID is, Dr. Schaffner says.

Unfortunately, some people follow the recommendations to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and still end up developing long COVID. Vaccines lower the risk of long COVIDthey dont completely eliminate it, leading to the conclusion that other factors are involved, Dr. Adalja says.

Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, agrees. Vaccination decreases the likelihood of long COVID, but its not perfect, he says. You still have a chance of developing long COVID.

Its all about lowering your risk of long COVID, Dr. Schaffner says. Were not dealing with perfection here, he says. Were dealing with reducing the risk.

Doctors recommend getting the COVID-19 vaccine to lower your risk of developing long COVID. Stay up to date with your vaccines, Dr. Schaffner says.

But vaccination levels in the U.S. havent been great lately. The most recent vaccine update became available in the fall of 2023, but less than a third of Americans got it. Were doing poorly with having people get the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Russo says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended that all Americans six months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine in the fall when it becomes available, whether theyve been vaccinated against the virus in the past or not. Doctors say thats important, both to protect against severe disease and to lower your risk of developing long COVID, regardless of whether youre considered high risk for severe disease or not. We still dont really understand which individuals are eventually going to develop long COVID, Dr. Russo explains.

As of now, there are no specific treatments for long COVID. It is important to realize that long COVID is an umbrella term and not a specific disease process, Dr. Adalja says. For treatment to be successful, it will be necessary to actually untangle all the different things that are grouped under this umbrella. There may be different treatments for different types.

If you suspect that you have long COVID or have been diagnosed with the condition, Dr. Schaffner recommends trying to be seen at a specialized long COVID clinic. There, doctors who regularly treat patients with the condition should be able to offer a tailored approach to your treatment based on the latest research and what theyve seen be effective for patients.

We have guarded optimism about the future of long COVID treatment, Dr. Schaffner says. Most people with long COVID get better. They do it rather slowly, but they usually do get better.

Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Mens Health, Womens Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a masters degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.

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Scientists Say This Lowers Your Risk of Long COVID by 72% - Prevention Magazine