New poll shows 2.2% of adult population complain of long COVID symptoms lasting over a year
New health research launched today reveals that long COVID continues to prevail with 2.2% of the adult population experiencing the symptoms of long COVID for over a year. This equates to 84,500 people struggling with the condition when extrapolated across the adult population.
The data is based on a series of polls commissioned by Denis Naughten TD on long COVID over the past 18 months. These polls have been conducted by the leading polling company, Ireland Thinks.
The results over the last 18 months show while there has been a decrease in the numbers with symptoms for less than a year, it has consistently shown just over 2% of the population reporting long COVID symptoms in excess of 12 months in each of the four polls conducted.
Graph: length of time patients experience long COVID symptoms
The current poll, conducted this month, shows that nearly one-third of adults suffering from long COVID first developed their symptoms more than two years ago. This equates to 1.3% of the adult population or an estimated 50,000 people.
Special leave entitlements for frontline health workers suffering from long COVID are set to cease on 30th June. This is despite the findings of this research underscoring the enduring impact of long COVID on a significant portion of the population, with a variety of debilitating symptoms persisting for more than two years.
“The main long COVID symptom experienced continues to be fatigue (reported by 83% of those with long COVID in Nov 2022 and 85% in June 2024). However, other common conditions such as memory problems, muscle ache, shortness of breath and sleep-related problems have remained consistent across the set of surveys over the past 18 months,” said Denis Naughten.
“While there has been significant global progress on how to medically treat long COVID, the persistence of these figures over the study period shows little improvement for the population with symptoms here in Ireland. This does not reflect well on the treatment provided by the HSE.
“Despite a comprehensive review of the interim model of treatment of the condition from HIQA last year, a revised model of care is still not being considered by the HSE. The last thing we need now is for this to be delayed. Given that a higher proportion of women, at 62.6%, report that their symptoms impede their daily activities compared to 14.7% of men, it’s essential for the HSE to promptly address this health issue, which appears to predominantly impact women.
“This condition is a multi-faceted syndrome, so a dedicated cross-specialty care plan must be introduced by the HSE immediately to help patients’ treatment and recovery pathway.”
Table: long COVID symptoms experienced by patients
Deputy Naughten has been tracking the prevalence of long COVID for 18 months. While, compared to the last available data in April 2024, the incidence of long COVID has decreased from 6% to 4%, this is still a significant number. It demonstrates that the effects of the illness continue to prevail for many members of the population. This is as the health service (HSE) struggles to fully staff long COVID clinics or to effectively treat the various symptoms of the post-viral syndrome.
ENDS.
Tracking Poll Results: long covid tracking poll report
About the polling data:
The poll was conducted by Ireland Thinks between 1st and 4th June with a sample size of 1.024. Ireland Thinks has a panel of 30,000 respondents – its algorithm chooses 5,000 individuals to take part in each poll. These individuals are selected based on their demographics and behaviours (age, gender, religiosity, educational attainment, past voting behaviour) to ensure that the sample is an exact replica of the Census, and within that, the general population. Polling is conducted via an SMS message that is sent directly to participants.
In this poll, respondents were asked whether they had experienced symptoms associated with long COVID following an initial period of infection with COVID-19 within the past four weeks. Those who reported symptoms were then requested to provide a timeline for the onset and continuation of those symptoms along with a list of symptoms experienced and to describe any changes to their ability to perform daily activities as a result.
Earlier polls were carried out in April 2024, July 2023 and November 2023 using the same methods which are consistent with a similar study published by the Office for National Statistics in the UK
For more, visit https://www.irelandthinks.ie
About long COVID:
- The World Health Organisation defines long COVID as the “continuation or development of new symptoms 3 months after the initial months after the initial infection, with symptoms lasting for at least 2 months with no other explanation”.
- A recent study from Trinity College Dublin found that symptoms of long COVID are linked to disruptions to the integrity of blood vessels in the brain, leading to many of the neurological symptoms associated with the disease. While these beneficial studies present opportunities to develop targeted therapies for patients, the current model of care for long COVID – which has been in place on an interim basis since September 2021 – will not be revised until at least January 2025. The rationale for this delay is based on a review from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) last year, which signalled that more research was needed to determine effective treatments for the illness. Deputy Naughten has called on Taoiseach Simon Harris to urgently address this issue.
About the population data:
The 3,842,652 figure pertains to the adult population in Ireland. This figure is based on extrapolated 2022 Census, made available via the Oireachtas Library & Research Service