Deaths Mentioning Long COVID Identified in United States

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) — A total of 3,544 COVID-19 deaths mentioned long COVID from Jan. 1, 2020, through June 30, 2022, representing 0.3 percent of COVID-19 deaths, according to a December Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Farida B. Ahmad, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues identified and quantified COVID-19 deaths with postacute sequelae of COVID-19 or long COVID using literal text from provisional National Vital Statistics System death certificates for deaths occurring during Jan. 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022.

The researchers identified 3,544 deaths mentioning long COVID key terms among deaths occurring during the study period, representing 0.3 percent of the COVID-19 deaths during the same time period. The percentage of COVID-19 deaths with long COVID peaked in June 2021 and April 2022 (1.2 and 3.8 percent, respectively). For the period ending in June 2022, the age-adjusted death rate for long COVID was 6.3 per 1 million population. From July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, the long COVID death rate was highest among adults aged 85 years and older, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives, and males. The lowest death rate was seen among Asian people.

“Low rates of long COVID among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic people may also be due to poor access to health care and appropriate diagnosis and reporting of post-COVID conditions in these populations,” the authors write.

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