More than one in six unvaccinated people report health effects of COVID-19 2 years after infection, study finds

Around one in six unvaccinated individuals say they are still experiencing health effects of COVID-19 up to 2 years after infection, finds a study from Switzerland published by the BMJ.

The results showed that 17% of participants did not return to normal health and 18% reported COVID-19-related symptoms 24 months after the initial infection.

Most people who have COVID-19 recover soon after the initial phase of the disease, but others experience persistent health problems (known as long COVID), which can have an impact quality of life and ability to work, the authors say.

Previous studies on longer-term outcomes after COVID-19 infection have reported a wide range of estimates (22–75% at 12–24 months) preventing researchers from making any firm conclusions about long-term treatment and support.

To address some of this uncertainty, researchers looked at patterns of recovery and symptom persistence over 2 years in adults from the Zurich SARS-CoV-2 cohort, an ongoing study of individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.