Persistent fatigue following COVID-19

Months after infection with SARS-CoV-2, some patients are still suffering from fatigue. In the current study, severe fatigue negatively correlated with disease severity. Even patients with mild symptoms showed fatigue up to 10 months after initial infection.

Since the emergence of COVID-19, millions of people have been infected globally. Although cases of long COVID-19 are still increasing, little is known about long-term consequences of COVID-19. “One point that has become increasingly clear is that fatigue is the most reported symptom during recovery,” Ms Zjala Ebadi (Radboud University Medical Center, the Netherlands) pointed out [1].

Ms Ebadi presented a study that aimed to determine the long-term prevalence of severe fatigue in patients after recovering from COVID-19 infection. Patients were recruited during their visit to the multidisciplinary aftercare facility; 3 study groups were distinguished: intensive care unit (ICU) patients, hospitalised non-ICU patients, and non-hospitalised patients referred by general practitioners (GP) for persisting symptoms. Between May 2020 and May 2021, participants were examined during 2 consultations with a 2-month interval. Fatigue was assessed using Checklist Individual Strength in which severe fatigue was defined as a score ≥35.

In total, 236 patients were included in the study. Severe fatigue was present in 58% of ICU (n=31), 66% of hospitalised non-ICU (n=77), and 94% of GP-referred (n=128) patients during the first consultation (average 3.7 months after COVID-19), and in 52%, 64%, and 75% of patients during the second consultation (average 8.2 months after COVID-19).

In short, severe fatigue remained highly prevalent in both hospitalised and non-hospitalised patients, even up to 10 months after COVID-19. Future studies should focus on preventing COVID-19 fatigue to become chronic.

1. Ebadi Z, et al. Late Breaking Abstract - Post-Covid-19 fatigue and its associations with health status: long-term follow-up. Abstract 93. ERS 2021, 5–8 September.

 

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Posted on 9 November 2021