Long-haul COVID-19 patients surprise Mayo researchers

Star Tribune logo

Fatigue and continued breathing problems were most common symptoms along with neurological and cognitive issues. 

Lingering breathing problems and complications in the weeks and months after suffering COVID-19 illnesses were most common in women and in patients who didn’t need hospitalizations or suffer severe initial infections, a new Mayo Clinic study found.

The roundup report offered several surprises about the first 100 patients to receive care through Mayo’s rehabilitation program for so-called “long haul” post-COVID symptoms. Only 25% of the patients had been hospitalized for COVID-19, according to the study by Dr. Greg Vanichkachorn and colleagues that was published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

“We are not seeing that hospitalization is a huge risk factor for this prolonged COVID state,” said Vanichkachorn, medical director of Mayo’s COVID-19 Activity Rehabilitation Program (CARP). Continue reading.