April 7, 2023 – More than three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, persistent symptoms have gotten more common, with residents of certain states, women, Hispanics and transgender people at greater risk, a brand new report shows.
More than one in 4 adults who contract the virus subsequently suffer from Long COVID, in accordance with a brand new report by the US Census Bureau. In total, almost 15% of all American adults – greater than 38 million people across the country – have had long COVID sooner or later because the pandemic began, the report said.
The report is predicated on survey data collected between March 1 and 13. It defines “long Covid” as symptoms lasting a minimum of three months that folks didn’t have before becoming infected with the virus.
This is the second recent study on who’s almost certainly to be affected by Long COVID. An identical studyThe study, published last month, found that girls, smokers and other people with severe COVID-19 infections were almost certainly to suffer from the disorder.
The Census Bureau report found that 27% of adults nationwide developed Long COVID after being infected with the virus, with the disease affecting some states greater than others. The share of residents affected by Long COVID ranged from 18.8% in New Jersey to 40.7% in West Virginia.
Other states with long-COVID rates well below the national average include Alaska, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin. At the opposite end of the spectrum, states with rates well above the national average include Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Long COVID rates also varied by age, gender and race. People of their fifties were most in danger: About 31 percent of those infected later developed long COVID, followed by those of their forties with greater than 29 percent.
Far more women (nearly 33%) than men (21%) with COVID infections developed long COVID. And when researchers examined long COVID rates by gender identity, they found that transgender adults were greater than twice as more likely to develop long COVID as cisgender men. Long COVID rates were also much higher amongst bisexual adults than amongst heterosexual, gay, or lesbian people.
Long COVID was also way more common amongst adults of Hispanic descent, affecting nearly 29% of those infected with the virus, than amongst whites or blacks, whose Long COVID rates were just like the national average of 27%. Among Asian adults, the Long COVID rate was lower than the national average, at lower than 20%.
People with disabilities are also at higher risk: the long-COVID rate is nearly 47%, in comparison with 24% for adults without disabilities.