Survey in Tokyo Finds Half of Former COVID-19 Patients Have Suffered Aftereffects

The municipality of Setagaya in Tokyo conducted a survey of around 9,000 people who had been infected with COVID-19 based on infection reports sent to its public health center as of April 15, 2021. A total of 3,710 valid responses were obtained for the survey, which was conducted from July to August.

Among the respondents, 48.1% said they had previously suffered or continued to suffer from aftereffects of the virus. These were far more prevalent among women than men, at 54.3% as compared to 41.9%. By age, the occurrence of aftereffects was relatively high among people in their thirties, forties, and fifties, at 53.0%, 54.2%, and 54.6%, respectively.

The most common specific symptom among those who have had or still suffer from aftereffects, according to a survey question with multiple answers allowed, was impaired sense of smell at 54.4%, followed by general fatigue at 50.0%, impaired sense of taste at 44.8%, coughing at 34.5%, difficulty breathing at 29.8%, and headaches at 25.4%.

Symptoms that caused difficulty in the daily life of those surveyed for more than three months were impaired sense of smell at 38.7%, followed by general fatigue at 28.0%, impaired sense of taste at 21.7%, difficulty concentrating at 20.5%, impaired sleep at 18.5%, and difficulty breathing at 17.6%.

The average period of recovery among those infected with COVID-19 was 15.5 days. A recovery period of 13 to 15 days was the most common case, reported by 29.6% of those surveyed, followed by 8 to 10 days (25.8%), 20 days or more (17.5%), and 7 days or less (16.9%).

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)