Long symptoms of Covid-19 that no one talks about; signs to look out for. Read here

Even with the Omicron variant, which is said to be milder than its predecessors, doctors have warned against taking it lightly as it could lead to long COVID.

What is the long COVID?

Even after initial recovery, some COVID patients can develop complications that could plague them for months. Doctors refer to these symptoms as long COVID.

What are the symptoms of long COVID?

One of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 is loss of smell and taste. “Loss of smell affects around 70% of patients who have had Covid,” said Joaquim Mullol, who runs a smell clinic at the Barcelona Hospital Clinic, as quoted by AFP.

And, a quarter of patients, who lost their sense of smell due to Covid, do not recover it until months after the initial recovery, he added. Such a long-term syndrome is known as parosmia. It is a smell disorder that distorts the sense of smell.

Apart from this, other symptoms of long COVD include fatigue, persistent cough, shortness of breath, brain fog and anxiety.

Why can this affect the quality of life?

Parosmia can seriously affect life in the long term. Imagine living with a condition where you eat food but are unable to enjoy it because it no longer smells the same. Or maybe there’s something burning at home, but you’re completely oblivious because you can smell it.

“The nose allows us to smell what we eat, what we drink, to connect with the outside world,” Mullol said.

“We detect things that can be dangerous, like gas, spoiled food. When we remove that, the person is cut off from the world.”

What are the long term effects of Omicron?

Infections with earlier variants of the coronavirus, including mild infections and “breakthrough” cases after vaccination, have sometimes caused the persistent and debilitating long-haul COVID syndrome.

“We don’t yet have data on the proportion of Omicron infections…end up with Long COVID,” said Akiko Iwasaki, who studies viral immunology at Yale University, as quoted by Reuters.

“People who underestimate Omicron as ‘mild’ put themselves at risk of debilitating disease that can persist for months or years.”