Experts Have Better Defined Long COVID – reported in The Washington Post (5/25) and USA Today (5/25), experts have better defined what symptoms make up Long COVID. The 12 key symptoms best define this debilitating condition. They include: “fatigue, especially after exercise; brain fog; dizziness; gastrointestinal symptoms; heart palpitations; issues with sexual desire or capacity; loss of smell or taste; thirst; chronic cough; chest pain; and abnormal movements.” Each of these self-reported symptoms is given a score and a person with a score of 12 or higher “is a person who very likely has long COVID.” Researchers explained, however, that “it doesn’t mean these symptoms are the most common, or the most severe, or the most burdensome or the most important to people.” Rather, “it just means that these are the ones that help us identify people who have long-term consequences.” The article adds that “reinfection and severity of infection were also linked to a higher incidence of long COVID, according to the study.
