New research unveils the 12 most common symptoms of long COVID

Why it matters: Three years after long COVID was first documented, mysteries behind what causes it and who gets it remain.

What they're saying: "Long COVID has been challenging to study and to define," said Helen Chu, a physician with the University of Washington School of Medicine who was part of the recently published study. "This will provide a measurement tool that can be used for studies of interventions to prevent and treat long COVID."

What they found: Researchers found 37 symptoms as present more often in infected participants at six months or longer after infection, then winnowed that list down to the dozen most distinct symptoms.

• They include malaise after exertion, fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, gastrointestinal symptoms, heart palpitations, changes in sexual desire, loss of smell or taste, thirst, chronic cough, chest pain and abnormal movements.

Some symptoms are more likely to occur together, and the broad range of symptoms could be related to factors such as viral reservoirs that remain in the body and perpetuate the infection, the researchers concluded.

• The study confirmed prior findings that long COVID can affect multiple organ systems in the body.

Of note: Researchers also found that people who were unvaccinated, had multiple infections or who had their first infection before the 2021 Omicron variant surged were more likely to have long COVID symptoms and more severe cases of long COVID.