A testing center worker (center) collects information from people waiting in line at a walk-up coronavirus testing location in Los Angeles, California, Aug 10, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (ROBYN BECK / AFP)
ROME – Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID-19, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, US health officials said on Wednesday.
Data showed that 1 in 13 adults in the United States have long COVID-19 symptoms lasting for three months or more after first contracting the disease, and which they did not have before the infection
Overall, 1 in 13 adults in the United States have long COVID-19 symptoms lasting for three months or more after first contracting the disease, and which they did not have before the infection, the data showed.
The data was collected from June 1-13 by the US Census Bureau and analyzed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Long COVID-19 symptoms range from fatigue, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, cognitive difficulties, chronic pain, sensory abnormalities and muscle weakness. They can be debilitating and last for weeks or months after recovery from the initial infection.
The CDC analysis also found that younger adults were more likely to have persistent symptoms than older adults.
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Women were also more likely to have long COVID-19 than men, according to the study, with 9.4 percent of US adult women reporting long COVID-19 symptoms compared to 5.5 percent of men.
The survey found nearly 9 percent of Hispanic adults have long COVID-19, higher than non-Hispanic white and Black adults, and more than twice the percentage of non-Hispanic Asian adults.
There were also differences based on US states, with Kentucky and Alabama reporting the highest percentage of adults with long COVID-19 symptoms, while Hawaii, Maryland and Virginia reported the lowest, according to the survey.
A medical worker at work at a COVID-19 unit of the Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, Italy, on Nov 12, 2020. (GIANNI SCHICCHI / XINHUA)
Italy
COVID-19 cases are again surging in Italy, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, fueling fears of a fresh wave of the pandemic during the summer tourist season.
The government reported on Wednesday nearly 54,000 new infections over the previous 24 hours. A day earlier, there were 62,704 new infections. Accordingly, the past two days produced the highest back-to-back figures in the country since late April.
Italy's seven-day case count is set to increase for the third consecutive week after eight weeks of decline. The daily infection figures are still far below the peaks of more than 200,000 cases registered in January.
The country recorded 50 new deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, down from 62 on Tuesday.
This file photo taken on June 4, 2021 shows a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in Paris, France. (STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Moderna
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday that an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine designed to target the Omicron variant also generated a strong immune response against the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which have gained a foothold in the US in recent weeks.
The updated vaccine, which Moderna is hoping will be approved for use as a booster shot for the fall, is a bivalent vaccine, meaning it contains vaccine designed to target two different coronavirus variants – the original variant from 2020 and the Omicron variant that was circulating widely last winter.
Moderna said that while the shot elicited a weaker response versus BA.4 and BA.5 than it does against the BA.1 subvariant it was specifically designed to combat, the data suggests the new shot could produce "lasting protection against the whole family of Omicron variants."