Older adults at greater risk of developing long Covid, study suggests

One in four people aged 65 and over develop long-term symptoms after an infection, according to US-based research

Nancy Rose, who contracted Covid-19 in 2021 and continues to exhibit long-term symptoms (AP)

Older adults are more at risk of developing long Covid after being infected, a new study suggests.

The research, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that one in five people aged 18 to 64 suffered long-lasting symptoms following an infection, compared to one in four people aged 65 and over.

The study was based on medical records for almost two million US adults, 353,000 of whom caught coronavirus. Patients were tracked for up to a year to determine whether they developed any of 26 health conditions that have been attributed to long Covid.

Among all patients, 38.2 per cent developed at least one long-term symptom. This figure stood at 35.4 per cent for those aged 18 to 64 and 45.4 per cent for people aged 65 and over.

“As the cumulative number of persons ever having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 increases, the number of survivors suffering post-Covid conditions is also likely to increase,” the study's authors wrote.

The study only looked at data from March 2020 to November 2021, before the Omicron variant that drove global infections over the winter.

Among the 26 conditions examined by the study, the most common symptoms were "respiratory symptoms and musculoskeletal pain" in both seniors and other adults.

The researchers warned that people aged 65 and over were at "increased risk for neurological conditions" and other mental health issues following a Covid infection.

The authors of the study said their findings were “consistent with those from several large studies that indicated that post-Covid incident conditions occur in 2 per cent –3 per cent of patients, and that a proportion of patients require expanded follow-up care after the initial infection.

“Covid-19 severity and illness duration can affect patients’ health care needs and economic well-being. The occurrence of incident conditions following infection might also affect a patient’s ability to contribute to the workforce and might have economic consequences for survivors and their dependents, particularly among adults aged 18–64 years.

“In addition, care requirements might place a strain on health services after acute illness in communities that experience heavy Covid-19 case surges.”