The University of York has just published an important study into long Covid: ‘Prevalence of mental health conditions and brain fog in people with Long Covid: A systematic review and meta-analysis’. Published in General Hospital Psychiatry journal, the study has highlighted the fact that Covid vaccination makes brain fog four times less likely to emerge in those patients who go on to develop long Covid.
Long Covid is defined in the paper as symptoms persisting 12 weeks or more after an original Covid infection: “The most prevalent symptoms include fatigue/muscle aches, shortness of breath and neurocognitive impairment…”
The University of York study focused on brain fog and the associated mental health conditions that many long Covid patients have. The recent news about the Conservative government’s ‘crackdown’ on benefits for those with mental health conditions may look particularly cynical in the light of the fact that it’s estimated that up to 1.9 million people in the UK are suffering from long Covid, which will have an impact on the exponential rise in long term sickness benefits and sick notes being issued.
Improving long Covid protection through vaccination
York University’s research reviewed 17 international studies involving 41,249 long Covid patients. It was done in collaboration with the STIMULATE-ICP project – a £6.8mn National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded research project led by University College London. The study’s lead author, Professor Christina van der Feltz-Cornelis, chair of psychiatry and epidemiology jointly at the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York and Hull York Medical School, said: “The discovery of a significant reduction in the risk of brain fog after Covid vaccination is particularly important… and provides support for continuation and extension of vaccination programmes, particularly to working-age people.
“There is a societal tendency in the UK to think Covid is over, but Long Covid is having a profound and lasting effect on individuals and society as a whole, with many people leaving the workplace due to the condition. This is placing a heavy burden on the economy.”
For some time in long Covid communities online, there has been a groundswell of (anecdotal) evidence that those who developed long Covid after the first wave of Covid infections and prior to the development and roll-out of vaccinations, seem to be the most drastically affected by long Covid symptoms. This feeling is borne out by the findings of the University of York study, which also calls for a programme of annual vaccinations for the working-age population.
Longer-term effects of long Covid are still unknown
People are still developing long Covid from subsequent strains of the coronavirus but the numbers of people with long Covid seem to have reduced since the introduction of vaccines and in some cases, long Covid symptoms seem at least marginally milder. Brain fog does not always develop during an active infection or even immediately afterwards. For many patients, it becomes apparent several months on from their infection. It is worth noting that long Covid also occurs in people who were asymptomatic during infection, sometimes even in people who never realised they had Covid.
Most concerning for those of us with long Covid it is unknown, as yet, whether the neurological damage could progress as time passes.
Professor van der Feltz-Cornelis said: “This finding indicating that the condition often gets worse over time is concerning. It could be due to a decline in people’s mental health as living with Long Covid and the uncertainty that comes with the condition takes its toll. However, some early evidence suggests that living with Long Covid affects nerve cells in the brain so that might play a role as well… With so many people suffering from the severe effects of this condition, our study clearly points to the need for greater support, in addition to sustained vaccination programmes.”
In conclusion, it would appear from this study that vaccination against Covid not only reduces the risk of long Covid but also the risk of debilitating brain fog for those who do go on to develop long Covid.
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