About Long COVID

Long COVID is a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems that
people experience after being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
Most people with COVID-19 get better within a few days to a few weeks after
infection, so at least 4 weeks after infection is the start of when Long COVID
could first be identified. Anyone who was infected can experience Long COVID.

There is no test that determines if your symptoms or condition is due to COVID-
19. Long COVID is not one illness. Your healthcare provider considers a
diagnosis of Long COVID based on your health history, including if you had a
diagnosis of COVID-19 either by a positive test or by symptoms or exposure, as
well as based on a health examination.

  • Long COVID can include a wide range of ongoing health problems; these
    conditions can last weeks, months, or years.
  •  Long COVID occurs more often in people who had severe COVID-19 illness,
    but anyone who has been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can
    experience it.
  • People who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 and become infected may
    have a higher risk of developing Long COVID compared to people who have
    been vaccinated.
  •  People can be reinfected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,
    multiple times. Each time a person is infected or reinfected with SARS-CoV-
    2, they have a risk of developing Long COVID.
  • While most people with Long COVID have evidence of infection or COVID-19
    illness, in some cases, a person with Long COVID may not have tested
    positive for the virus or known they were infected.
  •  CDC and partners are working to understand more about who experiences
    Long COVID and why, including whether groups disproportionately impacted
    by COVID-19 are at higher risk.

 

Link:
Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions | CDC