The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released its first-ever estimates on the prevalence of long COVID among adults in each US state and territory, uncovering significant geographic disparities. According to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, states in the South, West, and Midwest, specifically Alabama, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wyoming, and West Virginia, exhibit the highest prevalence rates, ranging from 8.9% to 10.6%, with West Virginia leading at 10.6%.
Conversely, New England states alongside Washington and Oregon demonstrated lower prevalence rates, between 3.7% and 5.3%. The US Virgin Islands reported the lowest rate at 1.9%, with Washington, D.C., and Guam showing prevalence between 1.9% and 3.6%.
The CDC’s analysis defined long COVID as experiencing any symptoms lasting three months or longer post-COVID-19 infection, which were not present before contracting the virus. Symptoms vary widely, including but not limited to gastrointestinal issues, heart palpitations, joint pain, respiratory symptoms, neurological conditions, and fatigue.
This study utilized survey data from a national surveillance system collected in 2022. However, it lacked details on treatment during the acute phase of COVID-19, the duration since infection, the ongoing length of long COVID symptoms, and vaccination status, with the latter only available from a subset of respondents.
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