More than three years into the coronavirus pandemic, fewer and fewer people are experiencing their first Covid-19 infections. But as cases climb, those who’ve had the virus before may wonder: What are their chances of developing long Covid — and does the risk increase with each reinfection?
Fatigue and brain fog may be the first post-infection symptoms that come to mind for long Covid, but lists compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by the World Health Organization also include musculoskeletal pain, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal disorders, and dysautonomia, the disruptions in heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, and other functions our bodies carry out without our control. We still can’t predict, prevent, or cure long Covid — or understand why it affects some people and not others. There is, however, a lot of research underway exploring the many still-unanswered questions about long Covid. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research at the VA St. Louis Healthcare System and clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, talked with STAT about what we understand about long Covid so far, and what scientists are still trying to figure out. (One of his studies, for example, showed that vaccination appears to lower, but not eliminate, the risk of long Covid.)
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