Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks at a White House press conference led by White House press secretary Jen Psaki in the White House’s James Brady Press Briefing Room at 21 January 2021 in Washington, DC.
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New data suggests that people with Covid-19 may continue to have symptoms for up to nine months after the initial infection, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor, Wednesday.
Researchers at the University of Washington recently found that 30% of patients reported symptoms for nine months, Fauci told reporters during a White House newsletter on Covid-19. People reported fatigue, shortness of breath, sleep disturbances and other symptoms that lasted for months, he said.
Symptoms of ‘long Covid,’ which researchers now call Post-Acute Sequelae or Covid-19, or PASC, can develop ‘well after’ infection, and the severity can range from mild to ‘disabling,’ said Fauci, also the director from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“The extent of the problem is not fully known,” he said, adding that PASC was also reported in people who did not require hospitalization and in people who had symptoms that were not part of their initial infection.
The update comes as global medical experts work to better diagnose and treat people with persistent Covid-19 symptoms.
So far, there has been a limited number of studies that have identified the most common symptoms of Long-Covid or how long they can last. Most attention has been focused on people with serious or fatal illness, not those who have recovered but still report persistent side effects, also referred to as “long-haul vehicles”.
The National Institutes of Health has launched an initiative to study Covid Long and identify causes and potential treatments for individuals, Fauci said. “What makes some people vulnerable while others recover quickly and have no consequences?” he asked.
– CNBC’s Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report.