CDC Observes Thousands of Deaths Linked to Long COVID

Long COVID, an ill-defined syndrome expressed with various symptoms and degrees of severity, is now also proven deadly. According to a recent report published by the CDC, researchers found that 3,544 death certificates included the term long COVID or a similar term since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

In the report, CDC officials found that long COVID-associated deaths peaked in February 2022 when 393 certificates mentioned the ailment. People over 75 and American Indian or Alaskan Native People were the most commonly affected groups. Death rates for men were also higher than for women across all age groups over 50; however, the long COVID death rates were less differentiated between genders than COVID-19 death rates. And despite having higher COVID-19 death rates, Black and Hispanic people did not have higher long COVID death rates.

To conduct the study, researchers relied on the literal text of death certificates in the National Vital Statistics System. Terms considered to signal long COVID were varied and included chronic COVID, long COVID, long-haul COVID, long-hauler COVID, post-acute sequelae of COVID, and post COVID. The variety of verbiage reveals the muddled understanding of the disease and the need for further research.

Initial explorations of the disease characterized it as primarily a mental health issue spawned from COVID-19 infection. In March, a University of Cambridge study looked at long COVID and found that most sufferers reported diminished cognitive capabilities.

Further research has found that long COVID presents an assortment of symptoms that can differ based on the severity of the initial infection. Furthermore, it’s not well understood what proportion of people infected with COVID-19 develop long COVID afterward, and current estimates suggest that the number ranges from 20% to as high as 40%.

Over a year ago, the United States Department of Justice added long COVID to the list of protected disabilities covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And fortunately, recent observational studies have shown that people are less likely to develop long COVID symptoms after being infected with the Omicron variant than infections with the more deadly Delta variant.

Still, healthcare providers are puzzled about how to treat long COVID sufferers as research shows their level of disability is hardly uniform and possibly more severe than initially thought. “Given the widespread and diverse impact the virus has on the human body, it is unlikely that there will be one cure, one treatment,” said Dr. Gary Gibbons, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in a recent interview with NPR. “It is important that we help find solutions for everyone. This is why multiple clinical trials will occur over the coming months.”