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May long COVID improve without full recovery?

Investigators found that symptom improvement remained possible years after infection, but patients with multisystem symptoms had lower likelihood of improvement.

  • By

  • Andrea Surnit

  • November 3, 2026

  • 4 min

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  • 1

    In the RECOVER-Adult cohort, 50% of adults with likely long COVID at 12 months had sustained improvement by 36 months.

  • 2

    Complete symptom resolution was estimated in 15% of participants by 24 months and 27% by 36 months.

  • 3

    By 36 months, sustained improvement ranged from 60% among participants with smell or taste disturbances to 19% among those with multisystem symptoms.

  • 4

    Improvement probabilities were higher among participants infected during the Omicron period than among those infected before Omicron, and were similar by sex.

  • 5

    The observational study could not establish causality, and its primary outcome reflected improvement below the likely long COVID threshold rather than complete recovery.

Original Source(s)

May long COVID improve without full recovery?

  • by Andrea Surnit

  • November 3, 2026

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