More than 3,500 long-term COVID-related US deaths: CDC

Long-COVID has been linked to more than 3,500 deaths in the US since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

An analysis of death certificates between January 2020 and the end of June 2022 found that long-term COVID is listed as a main cause of death or a contributing cause of death among 3,544 people, according to findings from the National Statistics Center in CDC Health. .

Researchers searched death certificates for keywords that included “chronic COVID,” “long-term COVID,” and “long-distance COVID” to identify associated deaths. It was the CDC’s first attempt to quantify deaths from COVID-19 using national vital statistics.

They found that most deaths from COVID-19 occurred among adults aged 75 to 84 and among non-Hispanic whites, who accounted for 78.5 percent of cases. The death rate from COVID-19 was highest among non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives, at 14.8 per 100,000 people.

By comparison, most of those killed by COVID-19 were slightly younger, between the ages of 65 and 74, and there were more deaths among blacks and non-Hispanic Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites.

The researchers suggested that fewer blacks and non-Hispanic Hispanics may have died from long-term problems with COVID-19 than with COVID-19 because of the high death rate of the virus among these racial groups, “resulting in fewer COVID-19 survivors coping with long-term conditions of COVID. .”

“The low rates of sustained COVID among non-Hispanic and Hispanic individuals may also be due to reduced access to health care and inadequate diagnosis and reporting of post-COVID conditions in these populations,” the report states.

Total deaths from COVID-19, while significant, represented only 0.3% of the 1,021,487 reported deaths from COVID-19 during the two-and-a-half-year period studied.

Health experts not involved in the study told The New York Times that the 0.3 percent number is likely an underestimate because of the delay in health care workers recognizing and identifying long-standing COVID during the pandemic.

According to the report, most deaths related to COVID-19 occurred in February 2022, while most deaths from COVID-19 occurred in January 2021.

“This is just scratching the surface — this is a first look,” David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation for New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, told the Times.

The report acknowledged similar limitations in its findings, including that some data could change as information is updated and more information is received.

It also found that death rates for some racial groups were underreported or overreported due to misclassification on death certificates, and that the study may not have included all key terms that identify deaths from COVID-19. Some deaths from COVID-19 may have been missed in the count because prior infection with COVID-19 was not confirmed or suspected.

Anyone infected with the coronavirus, even with mild illness or no symptoms, can experience post-COVID conditions. However, according to the CDC, there is a higher risk of serious illness with COVID-19.

The complex can last for months or longer and can affect almost any organ system. Some symptoms include respiratory, cardiac, neurological and digestive symptoms.

The researchers hope that death certifiers will come to better understand the key terms used to describe long-term COVID so that deaths are more accurately reported. This would help to more accurately quantify new and emerging public health problems.

“There is no test to diagnose post-Covid conditions, and people can have a wide variety of symptoms that could result from other health problems. This can make it difficult for healthcare professionals to recognize post-COVID conditions,” the CDC website notes.