Most individuals that have COVID-19 recover completely within a couple of weeks. But some individuals-- even those that had mild versions of the disease-- continue to experience symptoms after their initial recovery.
These individuals sometimes describe themselves as "long-haulers," and the conditions have been called "post-COVID-19 syndrome" or "long COVID-19." These health problems also are sometimes called "post-COVID-19 conditions." These health issues are generally considered to be effects of COVID-19 that persist for more than four weeks after individuals have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Older individuals and people with many serious medical problems are the most likely to experience lingering COVID-19 symptoms, but even young, otherwise healthy people can feel unwell for weeks to months after infection.
Common signs and symptoms that linger over time include:
Although COVID-19 is seen as a disease that primarily affects the lungs, it can damage many other organs, too. This organ damage might increase the risk of long-lasting health problems.
Organs that may be impacted by COVID-19 include:
Heart
Imaging tests taken months after recovery from COVID-19 have shown lasting damage to the heart, also in people that experienced only mild COVID-19 symptoms. This may raise the risk of heart failure or other heart problems in the future.
Lungs
The type of pneumonia often associated with COVID-19 can cause long-standing damage to the small air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs. The resulting scar tissue can lead to long-term breathing problems.
Brain
Even in young people, COVID-19 can cause strokes, seizures, and Guillain-Barre syndrome-- a condition that results in temporary paralysis. COVID-19 also can raise the risk of getting Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Some adults and children experience multisystem inflammatory syndrome after they have been infected with COVID-19. In this condition, some organs and tissues become severely inflamed.
Blood clots, blood vessel problems
COVID-19 can make blood cells more likely to clump and form clots. While large clots can lead to heart attacks and strokes, much of the heart damage caused by COVID-19 is believed to stem from small clots that block tiny blood vessels, or capillaries, in the heart.
Other parts of the body affected by blood clots include the lungs, legs, liver, and kidneys. COVID-19 also can weaken blood vessels and cause them to leak, which leads to potentially long-lasting problems with the liver and kidneys.
Issues with mood, fatigue
People that have severe symptoms of COVID-19 often need to be treated in a hospital's ICU with mechanical support, such as ventilators to breathe. Merely surviving this experience can make an individual more likely to later develop post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.
Because it's difficult to predict long-term outcomes from COVID-19, researchers are looking at the long-lasting effects seen in similar viruses, such as the coronavirus that causes the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
A lot of people that have recovered from SARS have gone on to develop chronic fatigue syndrome, a complicated disorder defined by severe fatigue that worsens with physical or mental activity but does not improve with rest. The same may be true for people that have been infected with COVID-19.
Much is still not known about how COVID-19 will affect people with time, but research is ongoing. Researchers suggest that health care providers closely monitor people who have been infected with COVID-19 to see how their organs function after recovery.
Several large medical facilities are opening specialized centers to care for people that have persistent symptoms or related illnesses after they recover from COVID-19. Support groups are available, also.
It's important to remember that most individuals who are infected with COVID-19 recover quickly. But the potentially long-lasting problems from COVID-19 make it even more important to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by following precautions. This includes wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding crowds, getting a vaccine when available, and keeping hands clean.
