Patients who experience long COVID-19 are at higher risk for pulmonary, diabetes, neurological and mental health encounters six months after the onset of initial infection, a study published Jan. 18 has found.
The increase in the frequency of healthcare encounters involving post-COVID-19 conditions can "present a major burden to patients and the health care systems that treat them," the physicians wrote of their findings.
Vaccinated individuals were found to have lower risk for the above factors than unvaccinated, the research, published in JAMA and led by Stephanie Richard, PhD, Simon Pollett, and Anthony Fries, PhD, also found.
Significantly, their research found that vaccination even after the onset of an infection also lowered post-COVID-19 risk factors.
"Our observational data offer further evidence that postinfection vaccination may mitigate PCCs," they concluded.
The study involved nearly 2,000 U.S. adults.