A new study in BMJ Global Health across 13 middle- and high-income countries reveals that 25% of patients reported symptoms of long COVID after symptomatic COVID-19, and long COVID is significantly more prevalent in participants from less wealthy nations and in patients of Arab or North African ethnicity.
A second study published in BMC Public Health showed that, among 3,693 COVID-19 patients in China, 30.2% reported at least one persistent long-COVID symptom, and 10.7% noted symptoms affecting daily life.
Higher rate in those of Arab/North African ethnicity
The first study involved 6,528 adult patients with symptomatic COVID-19 in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.
Long COVID was defined as…