By using machine learning to track symptom clusters in nearly 35,000 COVID patients, researchers identified four different types of long COVID. This finding suggests that her COVID in the long term is a diverse disease with a wide variety of clinical manifestations.
A new study examined two large cohorts of patients with at least one persistent symptom persisting between 30 and 180 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection. A machine learning algorithm that sorts through a large amount of data covers about 137 different lingering symptoms.
In a new study published in natural medicineresearchers found that “new conditions of the cardiac and renal system (subphenotype 1), respiratory system, sleep and anxiety disorders (subphenotype 2), musculoskeletal and nervous systems (subphenotype 3), and digestive system system and respiratory system (subphenotype 4)”.
The first subtype was found to be the most common, accounting for 34% of long-term COVID patients in the dataset. This subtype included patients with heart or kidney problems, anemia, and circulatory disturbances.
This symptom of prolonged COVID was more common in older patients (mean age 65 years) and those suffering from severe COVID. Interestingly, this long her COVID subtype was most prominent in people infected during the first wave of the disease in early 2020.
The second subtype identified was almost as common as the first, accounting for 33% of all cases. This lengthy COVID outbreak was dominated by lingering respiratory symptoms, chest pain, anxiety, headaches and insomnia.
Unlike the first subtype, this second type of prolonged COVID was associated with milder acute illness. It also appeared to be more common in patients infected later in the pandemic (from November 2020 to November 2021).
A third subtype (23% of patients) was mainly associated with musculoskeletal and neurological disorders such as neuralgia and headache. This subtype was most commonly seen in patients with pre-existing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.
The last subtype was the rarest and was seen in only 10% of patients. Gastrointestinal disturbances such as stomach pain, nausea, and intestinal problems were predominant. This last subtype was associated with the mildest acute illness.
Rainu Kaushal, of Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Population and Health Sciences, co-lead author of the new study, said that a better understanding of the various clinical manifestations of long-term COVID can only help doctors treat patients more effectively. But he said it would guide researchers working to develop new treatments. this chronic condition.
“By understanding the epidemiology of COVID over time, clinicians can help patients understand their symptoms and prognosis, facilitating their multidisciplinary care,” said Kaushal. “Electronic health records provide a window into this condition, allowing us to better characterize the long-term symptoms of COVID and inform other types of research, including basic discoveries and clinical trials. “
This study is not the first to try to break down the long COVID into different subtypes. A large UK study published in 2022 suggested that the condition could be categorized into her three symptom clusters (cognitive, respiratory and all others).
However, these new findings provide the most robust and comprehensive taxonomy of COVID long subtypes to date. And the research team’s next step will be to better identify risk factors for each long-standing subtype of COVID and figure out if there are treatments that are more effective than others for certain subtypes. is to
A new study was published in natural medicine.
Source: Weill Cornell Medicine
