Six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans have suffered long-term symptoms of the virus.
But exactly how many people developed long COVID — defined as when symptoms last at least three months — is hard to pin down. Scientists are still trying to understand how the disease works, and doctors don’t always know how to recognize it.
Long COVID can be elusive because it causes a range of different symptoms: fatigue, difficulty breathing, joint pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, depression, menstrual changes and more…