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. 2023 Jan 13;21(3):133–146. doi: 10.1038/s41579-022-00846-2

Fig. 2. SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 and long COVID increases the risk of several medical conditions.

Fig. 2

Because diagnosis-specific data on large populations with long COVID are sparse, outcomes from general infections are included and a large proportion of medical conditions are expected to result from long COVID, although the precise proportion cannot be determined. One year after the initial infection, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections increased the risk of cardiac arrest, death, diabetes, heart failure, pulmonary embolism and stroke, as studied with use of US Department of Veterans Affairs databases. Additionally, there is clear increased risk of developing myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and dysautonomia. Six months after breakthrough infection, increased risks were observed for cardiovascular conditions, coagulation and haematological conditions, death, fatigue, neurological conditions and pulmonary conditions in the same cohort. The hazard ratio is the ratio of how often an event occurs in one group relative to another; in this case people who have had COVID-19 compared with those who have not. Data sources are as follows: diabetes9, cardiovascular outcomes8, dysautonomia12,201, ME/CFS10,202 and breakthrough infections4.