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ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

1) This new paper in the Lancet suggests that the risk of Long Covid has substantially decreased compared to the pandemic period. The excess prevalence of severe symptoms self-attributed to SARS-CoV-2 was only 0.3% after 180 days. A brief breakdown...

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ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

2) This study was part of VASCO, a prospective cohort in the Netherlands to estimate COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Participants were included between September 2023 and January 2024, corresponding to the autumn Omicron JN.1 wave.

ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

3) Infection status was largely based on a self-reported SARS-CoV-2 test. The researchers were able to compare ca 5000 people who reported a positive test to matched controls who did not. The study recorded symptom data before and after the infection.

ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

4) Symptoms were assessed in multiple ways. They asked about 23 symptoms whose severity was rated on a 5-point scale. The severity of the symptom had to be lower than 3 pre-infection, and it had to increase to 3 points or higher post-infection.

ME/CFS Science
@mecfsscience.org

5) In other words symptoms didn't had to be new to be included as Long Covid symptoms, an increase in severity also counted. There was also a direct question: “Are you currently experiencing long-term symptoms that you believe are partly or entirely caused by the coronavirus.”