CDC Warning: Long COVID Can Be Deadly; according to recent research released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics, more than 3,500 Americans died from long-COVID-related illnesses during the pandemic’s first two and a half years.
Long COVID lacks a clear definition but generally refers to symptoms, signs, and illnesses that persist or worsen after the initial infection. Breathlessness, exhaustion, coughing, and cognitive impairment are frequently linked to the diagnosis.
0.3% of the 1 million total deaths from coronavirus are attributable to extended COVID, according to a report published on Wednesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
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However, specialists assert that the figures highlight the risk of disregarding persistent symptoms.
According to Farida Ahmad, CDC health scientist and study’s lead author, “Many people think about lengthy COVID as related with long-term sickness.”
“This demonstrates that it can result in death.”
A few of the extended COVID study’s statistics from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022, including the following information:
- Males accounted for a slightly higher percentage of long-COVID deaths than women, even though women are more likely than men to develop long COVID.
- People between the ages of 75 and 84 accounted for a sizable fraction (30%) of long-COVID deaths, followed by adults 85 and older.
- Nearly 80% of deaths from long-COVID were non-Hispanic whites.
- The death rate was lowest among Asians and was most significant among American Indian and Alaska Native people (15 in every 100,000).
Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University and the director of research and development at the VA St. Louis Health Care System, told the Post that this is proof that chronic COVID can be lethal.
“Let’s not make light of it or claim that it’s all in people’s minds.”
According to the study’s authors and other experts, the report may have undercounted the number of deaths because the deaths were determined based on data submitted on death certificates in the National Vital Statistics System.
According to Francesca Beaudoin, director of the Brown University School of Public Health’s Long Covid Initiative, “Death certificate data is plagued with uncertainty and ambiguity, something the CDC has acknowledged,” the Post stated.
Long COVID causes further issues due to the varying terminology and definitions. In actuality, a lengthy COVID had a diagnostic code in October 2021.
According to the CDC, up to 1 in 13 Americans have COVID-related symptoms that last three months or more.
