Experts have been expressing concern about “long COVID-19” for years now, signaling the damaging long-term side effects of a COVID-19 infection.
But there appears to be another type of COVID to monitor — “medium COVID.”
- Details: So what is “medium COVID,” exactly? Well, NPR’s Nina Feldman described it as a time when you suffer from COVID-19 symptoms after infection, but those symptoms won’t leave you “bedridden or unable to perform daily functions.”
- “Medium COVID” describes the Americans “caught somewhere in between,” she wrote.
- It’s for people who experience lingering symptoms from COVID-19 for a few weeks rather than the monthslong experience of long COVID-19.
What they’re saying: “There could be more to help people understand that it’s not always a quick bounce back right away after the initial infection,” Dr. Ben Abramoff, director of the Post-COVID Assessment and Recovery Clinic at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, told NPR. “This is still a very significant viral infection, and sometimes it’s just a more gradual recovery process than people’s previous viral illnesses.”
The bigger picture: It’s clear that a COVID-19 infection doesn’t disappear right away for some and that the coronavirus can have long-lasting symptoms.
- Long COVID-19 symptoms often include brain fog, difficulty concentrating, sleep issues, fatigue and COVID-19 symptoms that “were so severe that many people were unable to work,” per Self.com.
- In fact, a new study published in The Lancet Public Health found feelings of depression and anxiety can last 1.5 years after your original COVID-19 infection, which shows long COVID-19 symptoms can impact your mental health.