"Severe Aftereffects Worse After COVID Recovery, 'Feeling Like Fainting Just from Bathing'"

Onset of Respiratory Distress, Cough, Taste and Smell Disorders, Hair Loss, and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] A significant number of young people in Japan who were infected with COVID-19 and have recovered are experiencing aftereffects.

On the 22nd, the Mainichi Shimbun introduced the aftereffects of COVID-19 in the younger generation, reporting cases where fatigue has made it difficult to carry out daily activities properly.

According to the report, A, a second-year middle school male student who tested positive for COVID-19 last August, is still suffering from aftereffects such as fatigue and taste disorders. Although A had mild symptoms at the time of infection, he reportedly has hardly been able to attend school due to fatigue after recovering from COVID-19.

B, a first-year high school female student who was infected with COVID-19 in May last year, has also been experiencing abnormal symptoms such as dizziness for over a year. In particular, the fatigue was so severe that she would collapse just from taking a bath, and she advanced to a correspondence school where she did not have to commute to school in person. B was diagnosed by a doctor with a neuroimmune disease called "myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome."

According to a survey conducted this month by Setagaya Ward in Tokyo of 3,710 people who had experienced COVID-19 infection, the rate of aftereffects was 53% among people in their 30s and 47% among those in their 20s. In contrast, it was 35% for those in their 80s and 39% for those in their 90s.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined COVID-19 aftereffects last month as "symptoms that develop within 3 months from the confirmed infection, last for more than 2 months, and cannot be explained by other diseases." Representative symptoms include cognitive impairment, fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, taste and smell disorders, and hair loss.