Survey: 10 to 20% of Japan’s adult COVID patients had post-infection symptoms

A Japanese government survey has found that about 10 to 20 percent of adults infected with the coronavirus had aftereffects, including cough and fatigue, for more than two months after infection.

A team from the health ministry surveyed about 195,000 residents aged five to 79 in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, Yao City in Osaka, and Sapporo City in Hokkaido. About 30 percent of them responded.

The percentage of adults who replied that they had been infected by last September and suffered from post-COVID symptoms for more than two months afterwards was 23.4 percent in Sapporo, 15.0 percent in Yao, and 11.7 percent in Shinagawa.

The team surveyed children aged five to 17 in Sapporo and Yao.

The rate of those with post-infection symptoms was 6.3 percent in both municipalities — lower than in adults.

A member of the team, Doctor Iso Hiroyasu from the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, said the large-scale survey confirmed that many people infected with the virus are suffering from prolonged symptoms.

He also said that such symptoms apparently have an effect on lives of some people. He added that he will further study how symptoms change with the passage of time, in addition to continuous treatment.