As the Corona Omicron variant spreads, new questions arise, including whether people infected with Omicron can also experience long COVID even though the symptoms are milder?
It's too early to know for sure, but many doctors believe there will be long-term effects from the Omicron virus variant.
Maria Van Kerkhove from WHO said long COVID is usually diagnosed a few weeks after experiencing COVID-19. Any long-term effects usually appear about 90 days after the initial infection symptoms have disappeared.
Overall, some estimates suggest more than a third of COVID-19 survivors will experience some prolonged COVID-19 symptoms.
Quoted from the Daily Mail, the symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, anxiety and other problems. Prolonged illness is more likely if we are hospitalized for COVID-19. But research shows it can occur even after a mild infection.
The Omicron variant began infecting the rest of the world late last year. Omicron generally causes milder symptoms than the Delta variant. However, this variant cannot be taken lightly because it is easily contagious and burdens medical staff with the increasing hospital occupancy rate.
Van Kerkhove said, so far there has been no research showing that the percentage of COVID-19 survivors with long COVID-19 will change with the arrival of the Omicron variant.
Linda Geng from Stanford University, who co-leads one of the many clinics that specialize in treating long COVID-19, said although it was not possible to say for sure, a new wave of patients might occur.
"We have to be very careful, extra careful, and have to be prepared," Geng said.
Meanwhile, scientists are currently racing to find out the real cause behind the still mysterious long COVID condition. Some theories suggest this may be an autoimmune disorder. Tiny micro-clumps can cause deactivation symptoms. Or, perhaps the latent virus in the body has been reactivated.
Scientists are also looking at whether vaccines could be part of the answer. The team from Yale University is studying the possibility that vaccination could reduce prolonged symptoms of COVID.
And two other studies offer preliminary evidence that being vaccinated before getting COVID-19 can help prevent long COVID-19 or at least reduce its severity.