Prognosis in long COVID is varied. Symptoms can occur for weeks, months, or years after the initial infection, in individuals both hospitalised and non-hospitalised with the initial COVID infection.[44]Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z. Long-term outcomes following hospital admission for COVID-19 versus seasonal influenza: a cohort study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2023 Dec 14:S1473-3099(23)00684-9.
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[118]Servier C, Porcher R, Pane I, et al. Trajectories of the evolution of post-COVID-19 condition, up to two years after symptoms onset. Int J Infect Dis. 2023 Aug;133:67-74.
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There is a trend towards improvement for most individuals with long COVID over time.[118]Servier C, Porcher R, Pane I, et al. Trajectories of the evolution of post-COVID-19 condition, up to two years after symptoms onset. Int J Infect Dis. 2023 Aug;133:67-74.
https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2023.05.007
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37182548?tool=bestpractice.com
Survivors of hospitalisation for long COVID demonstrated continued improvement in health-related quality of life at 2 years following acute infection, although continued to have worse health status compared with a control population.[21]Huang L, Li X, Gu X, et al. Health outcomes in people 2 years after surviving hospitalisation with COVID-19: a longitudinal cohort study. Lancet Respir Med. 2022 Sep;10(9):863-76.
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Similar trends towards improvement have also been observed in non-hospitalised individuals with long COVID.[119]Kubota T, Kuroda N, Sone D. Neuropsychiatric aspects of long COVID: a comprehensive review. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2023 Feb;77(2):84-93.
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[120]Hartung TJ, Neumann C, Bahmer T, et al. Fatigue and cognitive impairment after COVID-19: a prospective multicentre study. EClinicalMedicine. 2022 Nov;53:101651.
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[121]National Center for Health Statistics. Post-COVID conditions. 2023 [internet publication].
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[122]Mizrahi B, Sudry T, Flaks-Manov N, et al. Long covid outcomes at one year after mild SARS-CoV-2 infection: nationwide cohort study. BMJ. 2023 Jan 11;380:e072529.
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Despite overlapping symptoms, long COVID appears to have a better prognosis than that of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.[123]Oliveira CR, Jason LA, Unutmaz D, et al. Improvement of long COVID symptoms over one year. Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Jan 9:9:1065620.
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