4% of French adults say they are affected, according to a first estimate by Santé Publique France-Presse

How much does long covid affect the French? To estimate the prevalence and burden of this syndrome, Public Health France conducted a first study, via an online survey, from March 22 to April 8, with a representative sample of 27,537 people.

Some 4% said they were affected by post-Covid-19 symptoms and, if we focus on people who had a “probable or confirmed infection” at least three months ago, this proportion rises to 30%. But the category in question does not include people infected without having had significant symptoms or positive tests.

Just over two million French people over the age of 18?

If we extrapolate these results to the scale of the French population at the time of the study, the long Covid would thus concern more than two million people over the age of 18.

However, “these results should be taken with caution, because they are based on a panel of volunteers”, noted epidemiologist Laure Carcaillon during a virtual press conference by Santé Publique France. A second study, on a random sample from the general population, should provide “more robust” estimates.

For the time being, the preliminary study shows that the prevalence of long Covid seems to decrease as the post-infection time increases, although 20% of the people questioned still present symptoms 18 months after contamination.

Women seem to be more affected

To characterize the long Covid, the agency uses the WHO definition: symptoms (fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, intermittent fever, loss of taste or smell, depression, etc.) generally within three months after the infection and persisting for at least two months. Symptoms that cannot be explained by other diagnoses and have an impact on daily life.

The long Covid seems to affect women more (32.8%), working people (32.3%) and people who have been hospitalized (38%), according to the survey by Public Health France.

A large majority (87%) of people responding to suffer from long Covid had consulted a general practitioner in the year preceding the survey, more than those without these symptoms (79%).

Good information for general practitioners “necessary”

“Good information for general practitioners on post-Covid-19 disease and additional care systems appears necessary”, underlines the health agency. The use of a radiologist, a pulmonologist, or even a neurologist, a psychologist was also more frequent among those who said they suffered from long Covid.