Data adds to growing body of evidence that females bear brunt of COVID-19 infection Expert: ‘Long-haulers could turn out to be bigger public health problem than excess deaths from COVID-19’ LONDON: Working-age women hospitalized with coronavirus are five times more likely to develop long COVID than men of the same age, according to preliminary data shared with the British government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). The data suggests that women under 50 are five times as likely as men under 50 to report a new disability, six times as likely to experience greater breathlessness, and twice as likely to feel more fatigued up to 11 months after leaving hospital. Sage noted that the participants in the study, conducted by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium, reported a drop in quality of life, including greater difficulty doing their usual activities and increases in anxiety, depression and pain. The findings have yet to be peer reviewed and published, but will raise significant concerns as to the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the working population — a particularly acute issue as the global vaccine rollout continues and countries prepare to loosen social and working life restrictions. The data builds on previous evidence that women are bearing the brunt of long COVID. A recent study by King’s College London (KCL) found that women generally are twice as likely to suffer from symptoms for more than a month — an effect that may be the result of differences in male and female immune systems. Sage advisers have previously said the long-term impact of long COVID on the working-age population “is not well understood, but it may be very significant.” Other studies into the causes and effects of the various syndromes that cause what we understand as long COVID are underway. Sage said: “It will be important to have a better understanding of physiology, including oxygen levels, lung function and evidence of scarring.” Experts have consistently warned of the long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on strained public health systems globally. Last year Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at KCL, said: “This is the other side of COVID: The long-haulers that could turn out to be a bigger public health problem than excess deaths from COVID-19, which mainly affect the susceptible elderly.”