The @ONS have (rightfully) received a lot of praise throughout the pandemic.

But the publishing of Long COVID data without a comparator group is poor use of statistics - Floating data points without denominators are not particularly helpful or useful.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/adhocs/12788updatedestimatesoftheprevalenceoflongcovidsymptoms
1/

See here for why LongCOVID data presented without comparator groups can result in misguided interpretations of data.

2/ https://twitter.com/ScienceShared/status/1357827697284636673?s=20

Unfortunately, these data are now being readily broadcast by high profile scientists and some politicians, and are understandably causing some panic among parents & the public.

3/

Posting this thread not because I don't think LongCOVID is a serious problem, especially in adult populations, nor that we understand it fully, or that LongCOVID shouldn't be counted or factored in to pandemic strategy.

Of course it should.

4/

But I have received a number of messages from friends over the past few days saying something along the lines of "If 12% of kids have Long COVID, this is an absolute disaster right...?"

5/

Having to explain that ONS are publishing pretty pointless data which is easy to misinterpret and those broadcasting this may not have done due diligence isn't very fun...

At least now I guess I have a thread to point them to :)

End.