More than 1 in 10 Australians have experienced long Covid: Study

Canberra, Oct 13 (IANS) More than one in 10 Australians have suffered from long Covid-19 symptoms, a study has found.The study, which was conducted by Australian National University (ANU) researchers, found nearly one third of adults in the country who have had Covid-19 had symptoms that lasted longer than four weeks, reports Xinhua news agency.Approximately 5 percent of adults have suffered from Covid-19 symptoms for three months or more after initially testing positive.The number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic in Australia, which has a population of about 25 million, has surpassed 10 million.The study found that while it's now likely nearly half of all Australian adults have had Covid-19, it hasn't spread equally across the population.Females, young adults and those living in middle-income households were the most likely to contract the virus."This is a snapshot of how Australians have experienced Covid-19 since early 2020," Nicholas Biddle, lead author of the research, said in a statement."89.5 per cent of adults surveyed who've had Covid-19 reported having symptoms. Those who experienced symptoms of some kind were hit with around 10 different symptoms on average, with the most common being tiredness."According to the study, around a quarter of Australians with symptoms experienced 13 or more, while another quarter experienced seven or less. A runny nose or sneezing, sore throat, cough and headache were also common, experienced by around three-quarters of those with symptoms.It found people who reported multiple symptoms were more likely to experience a drop in their mental wellbeing."On the other hand, people who had short experiences with Covid-19 or few symptoms generally didn't experience a decline in wellbeing compared to those who had not had Covid-19," Biddle said.
--IANS ksk/

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