Fauci says the new data suggests that “long” Covid symptoms can last up to 9 months

New data suggests that people with Covid-19 may continue to have symptoms for up to nine months after the initial infection, White House Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

Researchers at the University of Washington recently found that 30 percent of patients reported symptoms for nine months, Fauci told reporters during a White House news briefing about Covid-19. People reported fatigue, difficulty breathing, sleep disturbances and other symptoms that lasted for months, he said.

The symptoms of “Long Covid”, which researchers now call the Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid-19, or PASC, can develop “well after” the infection, and the severity can range from mild to “disabling,” said Fauci. also the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

“The extent of the problem is not fully known,” he said, adding that the PASC was also reported to people who did not need hospitalization and to people who had symptoms that were not part of their initial infection.

The update comes as global medical experts work to better diagnose and treat people with persistent symptoms of Covid-19.

To date, there have been a limited number of studies that discern what are the most common long-term symptoms of Covid or how long it may last. The greatest attention has been paid to people with a severe or fatal illness, not to those who have recovered, but who still report persistent side effects, sometimes referred to as “long distance carriers”.

The National Institutes of Health has launched an initiative to study Covid for the long term and to identify potential causes and treatments for individuals, Fauci said. “What makes some people vulnerable while others recover quickly and have no sequelae?” he asked.

– CNBC’s Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report.