Long COVID symptoms: 3 possible signs of long COVID, as per CDC doctor

Besides the ever-expanding list of coronavirus symptoms, long COVID has also taken a major toll on people. In the recent past, many scientists, medical professionals and governing health bodies have come together to study the lingering and long term implications of the deadly virus.

Long COVID refers to a condition where people continue to experience COVID symptoms long after they have recovered and tested negative. That said, people suffering with long COVID are called long haulers who, due to COVID-19, either experience some permanent damage to their lungs, heart, kidneys, or brain or continue to experience lingering symptoms despite no detectable damage to these organs.

According to Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC’s Covid-19 response, long Covid is still 'not well understood' by health experts. He believes that the primary care physician can identify whether a person is suffering from long COVID symptoms or if it's just some other illness.

“If you’re having symptoms you haven’t had before, something new following Covid [such as] chest pain, difficulty breathing, you can’t get your thinking clearly, you’re just not getting better the way you thought you should, have a low threshold to seek care,” Brooks told a House committee.

Considering COVID-19 negatively impacts the respiratory tracts and takes a toll on our lung health, experts believe chest pain could be a lingering symptom. Discomfort in the chest with a dull ache can also be a severe symptom of COVID-19, which continues in long haulers even after recovery.

Shortness of breath is a common post COVID symptom as per CDC doctor. While COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, it can make it very difficult for the patients to breathe smoothly. That said, it can also linger on in patients who have already recovered.

Patients have often reported signs of brain fog or mental confusion, making it a significant condition in the list of common long COVID symptoms. Many people who have recovered from COVID-19 have reported a sense of confusion, experiencing short-term memory loss, an inability to concentrate, and/or just feeling differently than they did before contracting the infection.

Many underlying risk factors are also associated with long COVID. As per Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, older people, women and people who are obese appear to have a higher risk of developing long COVID.