Some 6.8% of American adults are currently experiencing long Covid symptoms, according to a new survey from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), revealing an “alarming” increase in recent months even as the health agency relaxes Covid isolation recommendations, experts say.
That means an estimated 17.6 million Americans could now be living with long Covid.
“This should be setting off alarms for many people,” said David Putrino, the Nash Family Director of the Cohen Center for Recovery From Complex Chronic Illness at Mount Sinai. “We’re really starting to see issues emerging faster than I expected.”
When the same survey was conducted in October, 5.3% of respondents were experiencing long Covid symptoms at the time.
The 1.5 percentage-point increase comes after the second-biggest surge of infections across the US this winter, as measured by available wastewater data.
More than three-quarters of the people with long Covid right now say the illness limits their day-to-day activity, and about one in five say it significantly affects their activities – an estimated 3.8 million Americans who are now experiencing debilitating illness after Covid infection.
A new study found that thousands of people in the UK may not be working because of long Covid. Americans have also missed work at higher rates since the pandemic started.
The rate of adults currently experiencing long Covid has not been this high since November 2022; the greatest height since CDC began tracking the illness was 7.6% in June and July 2022.
The “estimates represent just a snapshot in time”, making it difficult to identify the role of different factors like recent surges, vaccination rates, new variants and survey methods, said Dave Daigle, a spokesperson for the CDC.
The most recent Household Pulse survey took place between 9 January and 5 February, and asked respondents if their Covid symptoms were currently lasting three months or more. Because long Covid symptoms, by definition, appear or linger after infection, the rate could continue to rise in coming months even as infections fall from the winter peak.
The next round of survey results are expected at the end of this month.
US health agencies define long Covid as symptoms lasting four weeks or longer, so the rate by that definition may be even higher than reported in this survey.
There are notable differences across geography, with the highest rates reported in North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alaska and Maine, and the lowest rates in Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.
A total of 17.6% of American adults have ever experienced long Covid symptoms, the survey found.
Although children are not included in the CDC survey, they also experience long Covid, including fatigue, brain fog and headaches, as well as serious respiratory and cardiovascular issues, such as myocarditis, studies show.
The rise in long Covid cases is particularly worrisome because “we still don’t know all of the things that long Covid does, how it does it, and why,” said Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School and a member of the People’s CDC.
Ignoring Covid cases now is “hubris that almost assumes that we can see the future”, Jirmanus said. “Nobody knows what long Covid will do five years from now. I don’t think it’s wise to throw all caution to the wind.”
The survey results were released on 22 February, more than a week before the CDC updated its Covid isolation recommendations. The CDC says in that guidance that the “prevalence of long Covid also appears to be decreasing”, in contrast to its own survey findings.
The advice from the agency to leave isolation after symptoms have begun improving flies in the face of scientific evidence and will probably lead to more spread of the virus and more cases of long Covid, experts said.
“It’s very irresponsible advice, and it just doesn’t follow the science. And it’s a shame because we rely on public officials and we rely on government officials to interpret and present science to us – that’s their job. And right now, they’re failing in their responsibility to us,” said Putrino.
While vaccines help reduce the risk of developing long Covid, the best way to prevent it is by avoiding Covid, Putrino said – especially since repeat infections raise the likelihood of prolonged illness. “Every time you get a Covid infection, you place yourself at higher risk of going on to develop long Covid.”
Those who already have long Covid may experience a resurgence or worsening of symptoms with new infections. One study found that 80% of patients reported their symptoms were more severe with reinfection.
There is no cure for long Covid, and funding for research on treatments and medications has been slow to materialize.
Putrino said he expects long Covid rates to rise and fall with each surge, but the baseline rate may increase over time, which can have immense repercussions for Americans’ health and wellbeing.
“All of these cases that are occurring with no protection from the government and no guidance from the government on infection prevention – it’s taking its toll,” Putrino said.
And it is not yet clear whether the rise in long Covid sufferers has an upper limit, or if cases will continue increasing indefinitely.
“It’s very troubling to me that those risks are not being shared with the public,” he continued. “Allow people to make their own decisions, but give them all the information to make their own decisions.”