Self-reported COVID-19 more strongly linked to long COVID than a lab test

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-11-09 03:00

International

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Believing you've had COVID-19 may mean you're more likely to feel as though you have long COVID than if you had a positive test result, according to international research. In France, where people may have not had access to testing when they developed COVID-19 symptoms, researchers tested a cohort of about 25,000 people for antibodies suggesting a previous COVID-19 infection. Before the participants knew the result, they asked them to report if they believed they had been infected, and whether they had symptoms lasting more than two months. The researchers say the participant believing they had COVID-19 was more greatly associated with reporting long COVID symptoms than actually testing positive for antibodies.