National Survey Says Long Covid Affected Women Adversely Than Men

The latest national survey in the United States has revealed that long Covid has laid severe underlying effects on women, much more than men. Recently published data by US Census Bureau and National Centre for Health Statistics disclosed that more than 17 % of women have borne the direct and indirect effects of long Covid-19 compared to 11% of men.

The Federal data has revealed that the long Covid effect on women has disrupted their lives much worse than men's, with prolonged symptoms limiting women's normal activities to a large extent.

Long Covid effect on women

The data published in the JAMA study journal has surfaced hard facts about long Covid in the United States. The survey found that women were more likely to be adversely affected by long Covid that their normal activities were limited to a considerable extent because of the prolonged symptoms they experienced during the surge of the coronavirus pandemic.

Suggested reading: Long COVID: How Researchers Are Zeroing In On The Self-Targeted Immune Attacks

Long Covid has been described as people experiencing symptoms and adverse effects for a period of around three months or more since they first contracted the virus. The recent data collected through digital surveys from across the country for two weeks also revealed that 2.4 % of all women had to suffer from limitations in their day-to-day life because of their symptoms and issues. Overall, around 14% of adults in the United States had suffered from long Covid at some point in time during the pandemic in the past three years.

While Scientists have not yet figured out the underlying causes of long Covid, there seems to be a growing consensus and understanding that it is diverse conditions coming together and not just a single disease.

If these figures seem appropriate, it amounts to over 36 million adults in the US who suffered from the long Covid, while 18 million are known to be currently dealing with the disease. The study also gave an in-depth analysis of the different variants causing different forms of Long Covid. The survey revealed that 60% of people, who suffered from the long Covid were infected with the original virus strain. The study also revealed that shockingly 87% of people who developed long Covid were unvaccinated.

In a separate survey analysis, The Brookings Institution found that over four million Americans could not work due to long Covid effects, most of them being women.

Long Covid has been a vital cause of concern with symptoms ranging far and wide including brain fog, constant body aches, muscle weakening, shortness of breath, and prolonged loss of smell among others. Currently, The National Institutes of Health is performing an extensive study titled 'Recover' to identify different types and forms of long Covid, highlight present and future risk factors, and plan a programme to develop further tests and treatments.