New US research on long-term COVID-19, provides new evidence on vaccines that it can occur even after a breakthrough in vaccinated people. Older adults are at greater risk for long-term effects.
In a study of veterans published Wednesday, about one-third of those who were breakthrough infected showed long-term symptoms of covid.
A separate report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one year after the initial coronavirus infection. 1 in 4 adults aged 65 and over had at least one potentially long-term covid health problem, Compared with 1 in 5 young adults.
Long covid refers to any of the more than two dozen symptoms that persist, recur, or reappear for at least one month after coronavirus infection. They can affect all parts of the body and can include fatigue, shortness of breath, haze, and blood clots.
Coronavirus vaccines, which help prevent early infections and serious illnesses, have long provided some protection against covid, but growing research does not show as much as scientists had hoped.
Vaccines don’t always protect people infected from ‘long covid’
The Veterans Study, published in Nature Medicine, reviewed the medical records of most white male veterans over the age of 60 on average. Of the 13 million veterans, about 3 million were vaccinated by October last year.
About 1%, or about 34,000, breakthroughs developed the infection. Lead author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly noted that the study was conducted before the release of the highly contagious omicron variant at the end of the year, and noted that breakthrough is likely to increase the rate of infection.
Symptoms of breakthrough infection and prolonged covid were more common in people taking single-dose shots of Johnson & Johnson than with two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
Overall, 32% had long-lasting symptoms of covid for up to six months after infection. This compares with 36% of non-vaccinated veterans who have been infected and developed for a long time.
Al-Aly, a researcher at Veterans Affairs Health Systems at the University of Washington and St. Petersburg, said the vaccination reduced the likelihood of any long-term covid symptoms to “mild” 15%, although it did not prevent respiratory problems or clotting but halved the risk. These symptoms include shortness of breath or cough and blood clots in the veins in the lungs or legs.
Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Kristin Englund said the Nature Medicine study shows what she sees in her clinic. Chronic COVID patients include those who were vaccinated and received a booster.
“Because we have had no clear treatment for covid for a long time. It is important for everyone to be vaccinated and other proven methods of prevention such as masking and social distancing to prevent covid infection and thus prolong covid” should be used, “said Englund.
The CDC report, released on Tuesday, says that medical records have been used for nearly 2 million American adults since the outbreak of the epidemic in March 2020 until last November. They included 353,000 who had Covid-19. Patients were tracked for one year to determine if they had developed any of the 26 health conditions associated with long-term covid.
People who had covid were more likely to develop at least one of these conditions than adults without covid, and people 65 years of age and older were most at risk. Information on vaccination, gender, and race was not included.
Shortness of breath and muscle aches were among the most common
Elderly adults were at higher risk for certain conditions, including stroke, cerebral palsy, kidney failure, and mental health problems. The report’s authors say the results are worrisome as these conditions could increase the long-term care needs of older adults.
They emphasized that in the long run, regular evaluation of all Covid patients was “important to reduce the incidence”.
