Our grateful thanks to Dr Robert Groysman for his contribution to our Word On Health radio report, which you can hear again at the bottom of this page.
Most people with COVID-19 feel better within a few days or weeks of their first symptoms and make a full recovery within 12 weeks. For some people, symptoms can last longer for months, even years. This is called Long COVID or post COVID-19 syndrome - a condition where people experience symptoms that persist for weeks, months or years after the initial COVID-19 infection has cleared. It can affect anyone, regardless of how mild or severe their original illness was, or vaccination status and it can impact multiple parts of the body.
The World Health Organisation defines Long COVID as symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks that cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.
Common Symptoms of Long COVID: Symptoms can vary greatly between individuals, as you heard, there can be over 200 different symptoms, the most commonly reported include:
Some people may experience new symptoms months after their initial infection, or symptoms that come and go.
The NHS advise you should contact a GP if you've had symptoms of COVID-19 for 4 weeks or more.
Who is at Risk of Developing Long COVID? While Long COVID can affect anyone, certain factors may increase the risk:
It’s important to note, however, that Long COVID has been seen in people of all ages and fitness levels — even those who had a mild or asymptomatic initial illness.
The Long Covid Support charity tells us that Long Covid can be difficult to diagnose, and some people might not realise their symptoms could be linked to prior Covid-19 infection. In their members experience there can be more than 200 symptoms that can affect anywhere in the body. These symptoms can come and go, and new ones can appear weeks or months later.
People may not be aware they had Covid-19: some don’t have symptoms at the time of infection, and test results, they claim, can be unreliable.
The NHS provides a ‘Your COVID recovery programme’an online recovery programme to support people as they recover from the long-term effects of COVID-19.
You need to be referred to the programme by a healthcare professional. You will be given a unique code to register on your computer, tablet device or smart phone.
The ‘Your COVID Recovery' website supports the programme and includes information on:
Listen to this weeks radio report
All material on this website is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this information; instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.
