One in five Brazilians who had COVID‑19 reports lingering symptoms

A study carried out by the Ministry of Health shows that 18.9 percent of Brazilians who have been infected with COVID-19 report persistent symptoms of the disease—including fatigue, memory loss, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, joint pain, and hair loss. Post-COVID symptoms appear more frequently among women and indigenous people.

The study is entitled Epicovid 2.0: Inquérito nacional para avaliação da real dimensão da pandemia de Covid-19 no Brasil (“Epicovid 2.0: National survey to assess the real scale of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil”) and was released Wednesday (Dec. 18). It shows that over 28 percent of Brazilians—60 million people—reports having been infected by the disease.

The vaccine

Of all respondents, 90.2 percent had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 84.6 percent completed the two-dose scheme. Vaccination was higher in the Southeast, among the elderly, women, and people with a university degree and higher income.

A total of 57.6 percent of those interviewed said they trusted the vaccine against COVID-19, but 27.3 percent said they distrusted information about the inoculation. Another 15.1 percent said they were not concerned. 

Of those who had not been vaccinated, 32.4 percent said they did not believe in the vaccine, and 0.5 percent did not believe in the existence of the virus. Another 31 percent stated the vaccine could harm their health; 2.5 percent reported already having caught COVID-19, and 1.7 percent mentioned other health problems. 

The survey

Epicovid 2.0 was conducted across 133 Brazilian cities, with a sample of 33,250 interviews. The respondents were selected at random, with only one person per household answering the questionnaire.

Coordinated by the Ministry of Health, the research was carried out by the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), in cooperation with the Catholic University of Pelotas (UCPel), the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV).