Long-term Covid-19 effects: The many strange symptoms, explained

Long-term Covid-19 effects: The many strange symptoms, explained: On December 3, the National Institutes of Health held a two-day seminar on what has come to be called long Covid, or long-haul Covid — cases of lingering symptoms that can last for weeks or months after an initial infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently created a list of some of the persistent symptoms patients are experiencing, which include chest pain, brain fog, fatigue, and hair loss — with patients reporting many others as well.

Because these patients don’t all have the same symptoms, they will need different kinds of post-Covid care. And the NIH made clear that there are still many more questions than answers — including whose symptoms might linger for months, and how to treat them.

Almost a year into the pandemic, there have not yet been thorough, large-scale studies to determine the true prevalence of long Covid. But preliminary research suggests that somewhere between 10 percent and 88 percent of Covid-19 patients will experience at least one symptom for many weeks or months.