Nature Studies are shedding light on rates of recovery as well as the prevention and treatment of the complex condition.
More than three years after SARS-CoV-2 began its global spread, an estimated 65 million or more people1 are still living with the often devastating effects of long COVID — and scientists are still struggling to understand this complex condition.
Even the definition of long COVID, whose symptoms include headaches, fatigue, ‘brain fog’ and more, is debated. Its causes are also elusive.
But researchers now have enough data to provide some preliminary answers to urgent questions about the condition, such as the timescale for possible improvement, factors that raise the risk of developing long COVID, and what can be done to prevent it.
How many people with long COVID get better?
The answer to that question hinges in part on whether a person is classified as recovered. That, in turn, depends on the definition of long COVID, which varies widely. The World Health Organization defines it as symptoms arising within three months of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and lasting at least two months, although that definition is disputed.