A new study out of France published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection estimates the prevalence of long COVID while considering the fact that there is no universal definition of the condition. Researchers looked at several variations of long COVID characteristics to determine its prevalence. Of 10,615 adults sampled from August-November 2022, 54.5% reported SARS-CoV-2 infection with as many as 13.4% having long COVID, depending on which definition was used. When using the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, 4% of the French population exhibits signs of long COVID the study’s authors found. Fatigue was the most common long COVID symptom reported by participants who had or likely had COVID, followed by sleep disorders, anxiety, and joint pain.
How to measure: WHO says long COVID is the continuation or development of new symptoms 3 months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection with symptoms lasting for at least 2 months with no other explanation.
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