New symptoms can occur following a novel coronavirus infection, but are they occuring more than among those who tested negative for infection? This cohort study analyzed the electronic health records of hundreds of thousands of people (under age 20 and over age 20; nonhospitalized, hospitalized, and hospitalized and ventillated) who had a medical encounter between March–December, 2020; the researchers looked for new symptoms that were present 31–150 days after testing either positive or negative for SARS-CoV-2. Findings point to an increased incidence of shortness of breath (in both hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients over age 20), and fatigue and diabetes (in hospitalized patients over age 20) among those who tested positive.
The group of researchers who published the study in JAMA Network Open include Harvard Pop Center faculty members Kenneth Mayer, MD, and Jason P. Block, MD, MPH.