In the BMJ this week, Prof Trisha Greenhalgh and colleagues have looked into the size of the long COVID problem in this article. This summarises their findings.
Why?
What is long COVID? There is no internationally agreed clinical definition (or clear treatment pathway) of long COVID. But many consider that if COVID symptoms last longer than 12 weeks, long COVID’ or ‘post COVID-19 syndrome’ can be diagnosed. This study attempts to assess the size of the problem.
What
How may people have long COVID? In mid-2022, approximately 70% of the UK adult population had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Of these, almost 2 million report COVID-19 symptoms persisting for more than four weeks; 807 000 (41% of all people with long COVID) for more than a year; and 403 000 (19%) for more than two years.
These numbers come from the governments latest ONS statistical data here.
Based on workforce data from the BMA, a GP with an average list size – approximately 2000 patients – has around 65 patients with long COVID, 27 of whom will have been unwell for more than a year, and 12 for more than two years. Yes, a lot.
How (will this affect you)?
It may not if you do not have long COVID. But it may encourage you to have your jabs, and understand how busy GPs are at the moment, and perhaps why its been reported recently that increasing numbers of working age people in the UK are unable to work.
But
MyHSN has contacted 3 GP practices. They think that these figures are too high. They are seeing about 3-4 cases/2000 patients. Is long COVID more of a problem in your area, or country?
As always, best wishes from myHSN!
