More than one in two cancer patients experience long Covid: Study

Washington: More than one in two cancer patients experienced symptoms of long COVID-19 for more than six months after initial infection, according to a new study at a US cancer centre.

The findings are comparable to reported incidence of long COVID-19 in the general population but also show that women undergoing cancer treatment seem at higher risk than men. The study is published in the journal eLife.

In the general population, reports of the prevalence of long COVID-19 – also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) – vary from 10 per cent to 87 per cent, with symptoms persisting beyond 30 days in patients who had severe initial COVID-19 symptoms or were hospitalised.