former reports propose that the US saw a capitulum of longsighted - COVID cases this summertime in the wake of the Omicron variant BA.5 . Paired with this , their enquiry paint a picture that the CDC drastically downplay the number of COVID-19 cases seen during the latest variant rush .

In a pre - print paper , which is yet to be match - reviewed , researchers from the City University of New York sampled over 3,000 US adults between June 30 and July 2 , 2022 , during theOmicron BA.5 spate . They obtain that 17.3 per centum of respondents had experienced a SARS - CoV-2 infection .

If this sample is representative of the whole country , it would indicate that 44 million people in the US were infect with COVID-19 during this point in the summertime – agency higher than CDC estimates of just 1.8 million compositor’s case in this period .

“ Our survey underscore the extent to which reliance only on confirmed and reported cases contribute to the immense underestimation of the true burden of infection during surge . The degree of underrating is likely increase with metre , ” the report notice .

Most worryingly , some 21.5 percentage of the respondents who caught COVID-19 reported experiencinglong - COVIDsymptoms at least four weeks after their infection . This included symptoms like fatigue , difficultness condense , curtness of breath , and themuch - dread " learning ability fog . "

Black people ( 27.3 percentage ) and mass with underlying conditions ( 32.8 percent ) were also importantly more probable to have farsighted - COVID , according to the report . Meanwhile , long COVID was lower than average among respondents that were over 65 old age of years ( 14.8 percentage ) .

All of this indicate that the US likely underestimated the number of COVID-19 case in recent calendar month – as well as the number of the great unwashed who are persist in to experience lingering long - COVID symptoms after their infection has crystallize up .

Previous estimate vary massively , but theCDC estimates that 13.3 pct of peoplewho have COVID-19 will experience lingering post - COVID symptoms one month or longer after they catch the computer virus . This late story is an early ( albeit not conclusive ) indication that the Omicron BA.5 billow has generated a spike heel in farsighted - COVID in late months

There are still many unknowns that wall long - COVID . For some , retentive - COVID will sense like a flake of fatigue duty while recovering from the unwellness . For others , it can be truly debilitating , sternly impacting their ability to work andenjoy animation .

Scientists have proposed a number of different mechanisms that might explain the stipulation – frommicro - clots and inflammatory moleculesto the yield of auto - antibodies – but there is no undivided correspond - upon reason .

Regardless of its cause , it ’s increasingly apparent that long - COVID is causing astaggering burden on societythrough rising healthcare cost , decreased quality of living , and people losing the ability to work .

Oneprevious studyestimated that long - COVID could cost the world up to $ 2.6 trillion . That figure has since been farm to $ 3.7 trillion after new information revealed that the impact of long - COVID might be even more widespread and severe than once held .

The unpublished study can be register on the pre - print servermedRxiv .