Youve Heard Of Long COVID. Long Flu Is A Health Risk, Too

Statistically , there's a good chance you know someone who has had long-term COVID-19 illness, and chronic COVID-19 symptoms including fatigue, brain fog, and pain. About 14% of American adults have had chronic Covid illness at some point, according to federal data.

But many people don't realize that other viruses, even common ones, can cause similar chronic and debilitating symptoms. The study, published December 14 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, focused on the risk of “long flu” in severe cases of influenza.

“We have learned from COVID-19 that infections that were originally thought to be only acute disease can cause chronic disease,” said co-author Dr. Ziyad Al-Ali, Head of Research and Development for the COVID-19 System. Health care for veterans in Armenia. Saint Louis. and a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. This also applies to influenza, according to new research.

Al Ali and colleagues used US Department of Veterans Affairs records to compare the long-term health outcomes of nearly 11,000 people hospitalized with influenza between 2015 and 2022. The researchers tracked the number of people who were exposed to one of 94 health risks within a year and a half of being hospitalized due to the two viruses.

Compared with people who survived the flu, those who contracted Covid-19 had a 64 times higher risk of specific complications, including fatigue, mental health, lung, digestive system and heart problems. They were also more likely to die during the study, according to other studies comparing long-term outcomes for the two diseases.

Meanwhile, flu survivors are at increased risk of six health problems, most of which are respiratory and cardiovascular.

“Covid is more dangerous than influenza,” Al-Ali said, noting that it affects multiple organ systems, while influenza is primarily a respiratory disease. However, long-term health problems were common in both groups during the 18-month follow-up period. The researchers reported about 615 health problems per 100 people in the Covid-19 group, compared to about 537 per 100 people in the influenza group. Al-Ali explained that these numbers reflect the fact that some people suffer from persistent symptoms after infection.

It is important to note that all of the people included in the study were hospitalized, meaning they were very ill in the acute phase of their illness. The study population was also predominantly male and older, with an average age of 70 years. It is known that older adults are vulnerable to the worst effects of coronavirus (COVID-19) and influenza. Therefore, the results may not apply to all populations.

However, previous research has shown that even mild illnesses can lead to chronic health problems. Influenza, along with other common viruses such as Epstein-Barr virus (which causes mononucleosis), has long been thought to cause myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, a post-infectious illness that shares many symptoms with long Covid.

Recent research even highlights the potential consequences of chronic disease. In a study published in October, researchers followed people with a variety of respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19, influenza and the common cold, and found that each group had persistent symptoms. Likewise, in a 2022 study of people with various respiratory illnesses, most of whom were not hospitalized, nearly half reported persistent problems three months after contracting an illness other than COVID-19. A 2021 study of hospitalized and out-of-hospital patients also found that about 40% of people with influenza had at least one of the symptoms typically associated with long Covid within six months of their illness.

Al-Ali says that together, these findings suggest that we need to start thinking differently about viruses. “Before the outbreak, infections were minimal. “I thought you would get sick for a day, two or three days, then you would get better and it would be over,” Al-Aly said. But with a growing number of studies showing that this is not always the case, he concludes that “the infection is worth it.” "Respect."

She says that means getting it and doing what you can to avoid spreading it, including wearing a mask if you have a severe infection, getting all recommended vaccines and staying home when you're not feeling well.

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