Long COVID symptoms: Major issue happens 3 to 6 months later

An infection from the novel coronavirus increases your risk of serious blood clots months down the road, a new international study suggests.

Driving the news: International scientists from the United Kingdom and Finland recently compared more than 1 million people in Sweden who caught COVID-19, per ABC News.

What they found: The team of researchers discovered that patients who had COVID-19 were at an increased risk of blood clots in their legs or lungs about three to six months after infection.

• “Specifically, patients had a significantly increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that forms deep in the thigh or the lower leg,” ABC News reports.
• There was also an increased chance of experiencing a pulmonary embolism, which is when a blood clot develops in a blood vessel and travels to the arteries in your lungs.

What they said: “The findings of this study suggest that covid-19 is a risk factor for deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and bleeding,” the researchers said in the study’s abstract.

• “These results could impact recommendations on diagnostic and prophylactic strategies against venous thromboembolism after COVID-19.”

The bigger picture: Back in August 2021, there was a debate about whether or not the COVID-19 vaccine or a COVID-19 infection could make you experience blood clots, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.

• A study — which was peer-reviewed and published in the British Medical Journal — found that the risk of rare blood events were “substantially higher” after COVID-19 infection compared to the vaccine.