Effects on outpatients
Long-term effects of COVID19.
More and more studies are coming out on COVID19 “recoveries” (i.e. not deaths) as time goes by. Studies are starting to show consistency across populations, which means the full picture is getting clearer and clearer. I posted on long-term effects among hospitalized Italians on July 11.
To compliment these findings, CDC just published symptoms among OUTPATIENT adults (i.e. not hospitalized) in the US. What did they find?
1/3 of adults did not return to normal
Even among younger adults (18-35), 1/5 did not return to normal
Among those that didn’t return to normal, the most common symptoms were shortness of breath, fatigue, and cough (same as Italy study)
Among those that claimed they returned to normal after 3 weeks, 34% still reported symptoms
“This report indicates that even among symptomatic adults tested in outpatient settings, it might take weeks for resolution of symptoms and return to usual health”. As a comparison, over 90% of outpatients with flu fully recover within 2 weeks. Once again, COVID19 is not the flu.
Love, your local epidemiologist
Data Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6930e1.htm?s_cid=mm6930e1_w