The extent of long Covid has been dramatically exaggerated, new research suggests.
The actual number of cases is far below the estimates of the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which had suggested one in five adults infected with the virus have suffered from long Covid.
Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) say that a mix of poor science, social anxiety and misdiagnosis have combined to create a misleading picture that has put all the blame for other chronic health problems onto Covid.
A wide range of symptoms have been wrongly identified as being caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and researchers have been quick to blame Covid without carrying out proper controls.
This global misdiagnosis is masking other chronic infections that need a different therapeutic approach, the researchers say.
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