For the last two years, the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has imbalanced the day-to-day activity of every individual with more than half the population hospitalized with one or the other symptom. However, a recent study published in The Lancet stated that the recovered patients still have persisting symptoms even after two years of initial infection. 

The study included 1.192 subjects who were hospitalized in Wuhan, China. After their discharge, these patients were systematically followed up for six months, 12 months, and 2 years. Researchers found that around half of the subjects had long covid symptoms such as fatigue, poor quality of life, mental health issues, increased healthcare services, and sleep difficulties based on the data collected.

According to the study, after six months of discharge 68% of the subjects showed at least one symptom of long covid with the numbers declining to 55% after two years. The common symptoms such as fatigue (52%), sleep difficulties (31%), pain or discomfort (23%), anxiety, and depression (12%) showed an average decline from 52% to 30% over two years. Lead author, Professor Bin Cao, stated the study highlighted the need for a long and full recovery period. He also stressed the need to understand the mechanism of vaccines, emerging treatment, variant biology, and the preventive rehabilitation programs that will impact the patient’s health in the long run.