Northwestern Medicine: COVID long haulers experience symptoms more than a year after infection
CHICAGO (CBS) -- People who get a mild case of COVID usually recover in a week or two.
But a new study from Northwestern Medicine found COVID long haulers are still dealing with symptoms 15 months after their initial infection.
The study in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology discovered fatigue, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, a ringing in the ears and numbness were still big problems for the patients. even though they were never hospitalized for COVID.
Northwestern researchers found the sense of taste and smell improved for long haulers after six to nine months. but they had more issues with heart rate, blood pressure and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Patrick Malia is a patient in the study. The West Dundee resident said the brain fog from COVID sometimes makes him forget how to get to work in the morning.
"It was like walking around the concussion for nine moments, at that point. And now it's almost two years that I feel like I've been walking around the concussion," Malia said.
Researchers were surprised by the persistence of the late effects from COVID. Northwestern has treated nearly 1,400 COVID long-haulers.
