Study warns of post-COVID symptoms in U.S.

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A recent study on COVID-19 's serious and ongoing impact on people's health found that post-COVID symptoms are sobering and worth alert, said a report published Wendesday by The New York Times.

The study, conducted by FAIR Health, a nonprofit organization that focuses on health care costs and insurance issues, found that 10 percent to 30 percent of infected adults in the United States have serious post-infection symptoms.

It called the complex constellation of post-infection symptoms as "long Covid" that can last for months or longer. Those symptoms including breathing problems, extreme fatigue, and cognitive and memory issues.

"A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office said that between 7.7 million and 23 million people in the United States could have developed long Covid," the article said.

According to the study, 76 percent of the "long Covid" patients did not require hospitalization for their initial coronavirus infection.

"It's generating a pandemic of people who were not hospitalized, but who ended up with this increased disability," Dr. Paddy Ssentongo, an assistant professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Penn State, was quoted by the U.S. media outlet as saying.

Although much remains unclear about the prevalence, causes, treatment and consequences of the condition, FAIR Healthn decided to publish the study, "given the urgency" of the issue, the articled said.