As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than 3,500 Americans have died from what experts have deemed “long COVID."

What You Need To Know

  • More than 3,500 Americans have died from what experts have deemed “long COVID” in the first two and a half years of the pandemic, according to new data from the CDC

  • Between Jan. 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022, 3,544 COVID-related deaths had “literal text in the death certificate mentioning long COVID” or other similar terms

  • April 2022 had the highest percentage of long COVID-related deaths at 3.8%, followed by June 2021 at 1.2%, both times the CDC said coincided “with periods of declining numbers of COVID-19 deaths"

  • A June CDC study found that one out of every 13 Americans reported having long COVID symptoms, or those that lasted three or more months after first contracting the virus

 

The new report, published by the agency early Wednesday, found that between Jan. 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022, 3,544 COVID-related deaths had “literal text in the death certificate mentioning long COVID” or other similar terms. Those deaths accounted for around .3% of the over 1 million with COVID listed as either an underlying or contributing reason for death in the same time period.

Long COVID, or lingering symptoms felt by some individuals after they have recovered from an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, is referred to by many names and can have varying symptoms depending on the patient’s prior health history, per the CDC. The most common symptoms reported by those with long COVID are tiredness or general fatigue, heart palpitations, coughing, trouble breathing, neurological changes and digestive changes, all of which can last from weeks to months. 

Researchers examined death certificate data from the National Vital Statistics System for key terms including “chronic COVID,” “long COVID,” “long haul COVID,” “long hauler COVID,” “post COVID,” and “post COVID syndrome,” among others, all of which indicated long COVID as an underlying cause for patient death. 

The CDC defines the underlying cause of death as “the disease or injury that initiated the sequence of morbid events leading directly to death.” 

According to data examined by researchers, males and females made up roughly equal portions of long-haul COVID deaths at 51.5% and 48.5%, respectively. In comparison, men made up 56% of COVID deaths in the same time period, while women made up roughly 44%. 

April 2022 had the highest percentage of long COVID-related deaths at 3.8%, followed by June 2021 at 1.2%, both times the CDC said coincided “with periods of declining numbers of COVID-19 deaths.” 

“The long COVID death rate from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, was highest among adults aged 85 and over, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people, and males. Non-Hispanic Asian people had the lowest death rate,” the report noted in part. 

The research is subject to several limitations, not least of which being that COVID-19 death data is preliminary for 2021 and 2022, meaning final numbers might change as additional information is submitted. Researchers also noted the “investigation only included death certificates that listed COVID-19 as a cause of death, and as a result may underestimate deaths where prior COVID-19 infection was not confirmed or suspected but may have contributed to the death.”

Scientists are still unsure what exactly leads some individuals to develop long COVID, while others do not. While research is “ongoing,” the National Institutes of Health points to at least three factors that may work solo or in combination to cause the condition: SARS-CoV-2 particles could somehow become active again, thus reigniting virus symptoms; individuals with highly active immune cells may increase levels of inflammatory substances, and infections could cause some immune systems to attack the body’s own cells. 

The only known way to avoid developing long COVID is to avoid contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and experts highly recommend individuals get vaccinated against the disease as a first layer of protection. Individuals who contract COVID while unvaccinated should consider getting the shot after recovering from the disease, a move the NIH says “may help to prevent Long COVID.”

A June CDC study found that one out of every 13 Americans reported having long COVID symptoms, or those that lasted three or more months after first contracting the virus. At the time the report was published, one in five Americans were still experiencing long COVID symptoms. 

“A lot of people think of long covid as associated with long-term illness,” Farida Ahmad, a CDC health scientist and lead author of Wednesday’s study, noted in part, per the Washington Post. “This shows it can be a cause of death.”