| NB: When considering information concerning groups of people with ME/CFS and those with long COVID, it is important to remember that ME/CFS is a symptom-based clinical diagnosis not a mechanistic one. It is clear there is a high degree of shared pathophysiology between ME/CFS and long COVID, and the two diagnostic labels are not mutually exclusive. Importantly, some individuals with long COVID meet ME/CFS diagnostic criteria or could have a dual diagnosis. |
Although there have been many studies attempting to estimate the prevalence of long COVID (LC), there is no single figure that accurately represents the true number of people with the illness, either in the general population, or specifically amongst those who had COVID-19. There is also no clear estimate for the number of people with LC who also meet ME/CFS diagnostic criteria.
While not an exhaustive review of all studies containing information on LC prevalence (which would need to be a specific type of study that uses repeatable methods to search for, select, and combine all available evidence to answer a specific question; i.e. a systematic review), the following series of articles will summarise existing estimates in the published literature, and provide a unbiased assessment of the evidence relating to:
