#LongCovid (also called post-COVID syndrome (PCS)) is defined by NICE as “signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 which continue for more than 12 weeks and are
not explained by an alternative diagnosis.”

This study follows the period after discharge from hospital in 47,780 COVID-19 cases (4,745 of which were in ICU). https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.15.21249885v1.full.pdf+html

Paraphrased from article: COVID-19 hospitalisation was associated with increased risk of readmission and death following discharge when compared to control group.

Nearly a third were re-admitted and >10% died.

Rates of post-discharge multi-organ dysfunction were elevated in individuals with COVID-19 compared with those in the matched control group. Diabetes and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were common.

A summary conclusion: "Individuals discharged from hospital following COVID-19 face elevated rates of multi-organ dysfunction compared with background levels, and the increase in risk is !*neither confined to the elderly*! nor uniform across ethnicities."

The authors list a few limitations of this study. One thing that hadn't occurred to me is the threshold for readmission may be lower among this with a recent COVID diagnosis.

"Individuals requiring ICU admission experienced greater rates of post-discharge respiratory disease and diabetes than those not in ICU, but the opposite was true for rates of death, readmission and MACE."

On first read, this is a big (and important) study with a useful control group, which highlights (to me) that being discharged is not the end of the story and also how the burden on the NHS will lag well into the spring.

Get that vaccine, whichever comes first, into that arm!