Long COVID symptoms in young people could be just as common in those who haven't had COVID-19

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-03-31 10:15

Australia; International; NSW

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Symptoms often considered to be signs of long COVID in young people could be just as common in young people who have not had the virus, according to international and Australian researchers that suggest the World Health Organization's case definition of 'Post-COVID-19 condition' may not be accurate. The team clinically examined and gave a questionnaire to a group of young people aged 12-25 six months after they took a COVID-19 test; 382 who tested positive and 85 who tested negative. Following the WHO's case definition, the researchers say 48.5% of the group who had COVID-19 had long COVID symptoms, but 47.1% of the group who didn't have COVID-19 had long covid symptoms. The researchers say other factors including psychosocial ones could be behind the persistent symptoms and disability some young people are experiencing.

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Research JAMA, Web page

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conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Western Sydney University, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, The University of Sydney, Akershus University Hospital, Norway

Funder: This study was supported by the Norwegian Research Council (grant No. 302079) and the DAMFoundation (grant No. 2022/F0387180), and received institutional support from the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Akershus University Hospital, and Institute of Clinical Medicine at University of Oslo. Dr Zetterberg is aWallenberg Scholar supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (No. 2018-02532), the European Research Council (Nos. 681712 and 101053962), Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (No. ALFGBG-71320), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (No. 201809-2016862), the AD Strategic Fund and the Alzheimer’s Association (Nos. ADSF-21-831376-C, ADSF-21-831381-C, and ADSF-21-831377-C), the Olav Thon Foundation, the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, Stiftelsen för Gamla Tjänarinnor, Hjärnfonden, Sweden (No. FO2019-0228), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement (No. 860197), the European Union Joint Programme–Neurodegenerative Disease Research (No. JPND2021-00694), and the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL (No. UKDRI-1003). Dr Blennowis supported by the Swedish Research Council (No. 2017-00915), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (No. RDAPB-201809-2016615), the Swedish Alzheimer Foundation (Nos. AF-930351, AF-939721, and AF-968270), Hjärnfonden, Sweden (Nos. FO2017-0243 and ALZ2022-0006), the Swedish state under the ALF agreement between the Swedish government and the County Councils (Nos. ALFGBG-715986 and ALFGBG-965240), the European Union Joint Program for Neurodegenerative Disorders (No. JPND2019-466-236), the National Institutes of Health (grant No. 1R01AG068398-01), and the Alzheimer’s Association 2021 Zenith Award (No. ZEN-21-848495).

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