One in 13 US adults report long COVID symptoms

One in five U.S. adults (19 percent) who report having had COVID-19 say they have long COVID symptoms, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Beginning June 1, the Household Pulse Survey, administered in partnership between the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, began asking questions to assess the prevalence of post-COVID-19 conditions. Data were collected from June 1 to June 13, 2022.

The newly collected data show that one in 13 U.S. adults overall (7.5 percent) have long COVID symptoms, defined as symptoms not present prior to COVID-19 infection and lasting three or more months after first contracting the virus. Long COVID is less likely among older adults than younger adults, with nearly three times as many adults ages 50 to 59 years reporting long COVID than those aged 80 years or older. Long COVID is more likely among women than men (9.4 versus 5.5 percent), and it is highest among Hispanic adults (9 percent) versus non-Hispanic White (7.5 percent) or Black (6.8 percent) adults.

There is geographic variance in the prevalence of long COVID symptoms. Prevalence is highest in Kentucky (12.7 percent), Alabama (12.1 percent), and Tennessee and South Dakota (11.6 percent) and lowest in Hawaii (4.5 percent), Maryland (4.7 percent), and Virginia (5.1 percent).

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