Persistence of Long-COVID Symptoms in a Heterogeneous Prospective Cohort

The study at the "Luigi Sacco" University Hospital in Milan followed 1168 COVID-19 patients, roughly half male and half female, with a median age of 57, for over a year to track long-COVID symptoms. The most common symptoms were fatigue (53.4%), dyspnea (36.6%), myalgia and arthralgia (36.5%), anosmia (22.3%), and ageusia (21.1%). Temporary hair loss, or telogen effluvium, was reported by 10% of patients. Most symptoms took over a year to resolve, with anosmia and ageusia taking 200 and 155 days respectively, and telogen effluvium taking 299 days. The study found that long-COVID symptoms can persist for over a year and do not resolve in a linear fashion but fluctuate over time.