Millions of people, including many doctors, may be living with long COVID for years to come, European health experts have warned.
The World Health Organization said that at least 17 million people in 53 European and Eurasian countries have experienced the problem since the start of the pandemic two years ago.
WHO revealed new projections at its regional conference, held in Israel, yesterday.
These found a four times increase in incidence of the condition, linked to the rapid spread of the virus last year. WHO found that women are twice as likely as men to develop the problem – and those hospitalised for COVID face a dramatically increased risk.
The analysis was undertaken by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, USA.
WHO regional director Dr Hans Henri Kluge said: “While there is much we still need to learn about long COVID, especially how it presents in vaccinated versus unvaccinated populations and how it impacts re-infections, this data highlights the urgent need for more analysis, more investment, more support, and more solidarity with those who experience this condition.
“Millions of people in our region, straddling Europe and Central Asia, are suffering debilitating symptoms many months after their initial COVID-19 infection. They cannot continue to suffer in silence. Governments and health partners must collaborate to find solutions based on research and evidence.”
He added: “We are hearing stories of so many individual tragedies, of people in financial crisis, facing relationship problems, losing their jobs, and falling into depression. Many health workers who risked their lives on the frontlines of the pandemic now have this chronic and debilitating condition as a result of infection acquired in the workplace. They, and millions of others, need our support. The consequences of long COVID are clearly severe and multi-faceted.”
The IHME director Dr Christopher Murray said: “IHME’s research shows nearly 145 million people around the world in the first two years of the pandemic suffered from any of three symptom clusters of long COVID: fatigue with bodily pain and mood swings, cognitive problems, and shortness of breath. Fast forward and millions of people continue to suffer because of COVID’s lingering impact on their health and livelihoods.”
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