People may suffer ‘long colds’ more than four weeks after infection, study shows
Results in the Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine journal found a ‘similar risk’ of long-term symptoms as with Covid
Scientists say they have found evidence that people may experience “long colds”, acute respiratory infections with long-term symptoms.
Some of the most common symptoms include coughing, stomach pain, and diarrhoea more than four weeks after the initial infection. The severity of an illness appears to be a key driver of risk of long-term symptoms.
The study, led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), was published in the Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine journal.
The findings suggest there may be long-lasting health impacts after nonCovid acute respiratory infections such as colds, influenza, or pneumonia, that have been going unrecognised. However, the researchers do not yet have evidence suggesting that the symptoms have the same severity or duration as long Covid.
Prof Adrian Martineau, a clinical professor of respiratory infection and immunity at QMUL, said: “Our findings may chime with the experience of people who have struggled with prolonged symptoms after having a respiratory infection despite testing negative for Covid-19 on a nose or throat swab. Research into the long-term effects of Covid-19 and other acute respiratory infections is important because it can help us get to the root of why some people experience more prolonged symptoms than others”
Researchers found that people experience long-term symptoms – or long colds – after respiratory infections that test negative for Covid19. Their findings suggests some people suffer longterm effects from colds, flu or pneumonia. Researchers said more research was needed to understand why some people suffer while others do not.