Bello-Chavolla, Omar Yaxmehen, Fermín-Martínez, Carlos A, Ramírez-García, Daniel et al. · Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024 · DOI
This study looked at how many adults in Mexico experienced long-lasting symptoms after COVID-19 infection in 2022. Researchers found that about 1 in 5 people who had COVID-19 reported ongoing problems like fatigue, muscle pain, brain fog, and loss of taste or smell. The study showed that people who caught COVID-19 multiple times, had depression, or lived in poorer areas were more likely to develop these long-term symptoms, while vaccination and infection with newer variants reduced risk.
This research provides epidemiological evidence that post-COVID conditions (similar to ME/CFS in symptom profile) represent a substantial public health burden affecting millions. The identification of modifiable risk factors—particularly reinfection prevention and booster vaccination—offers actionable prevention strategies that could reduce disease burden. For ME/CFS researchers, this study demonstrates how post-viral conditions persist across diverse populations and validates several cardinal symptoms (fatigue, PEM, cognitive dysfunction) as key clinical features.
This cross-sectional study cannot establish causation or directionality—it demonstrates associations at one time point but cannot prove that reinfections *cause* PASC or that vaccination *prevents* it mechanistically. The study relies on self-reported symptom histories rather than clinical assessment or biomarker validation. It does not differentiate between ME/CFS and other post-COVID conditions, nor does it clarify whether findings apply to other geographic or socioeconomic contexts.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Bello-Chavolla, Omar Yaxmehen, Fermín-Martínez, Carlos A, Ramírez-García, Daniel, Vargas-Vázquez, Arsenio, Fernández-Chirino, Luisa, Basile-Alvarez, Martín Roberto, et al. (2024). Prevalence and determinants of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection (Long COVID) among adults in Mexico during 2022: a retrospective analysis of nationally representative data.. Lancet regional health. Americas. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2024.100688
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bello-chavolla-2024-prevalence-determinants,
author = {Bello-Chavolla, Omar Yaxmehen and Fermín-Martínez, Carlos A and Ramírez-García, Daniel and Vargas-Vázquez, Arsenio and Fernández-Chirino, Luisa and Basile-Alvarez, Martín Roberto and Sánchez-Castro, Paulina and Núñez-Luna, Alejandra and Antonio-Villa, Neftali Eduardo},
title = {Prevalence and determinants of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection (Long COVID) among adults in Mexico during 2022: a retrospective analysis of nationally representative data.},
journal = {Lancet regional health. Americas},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1016/j.lana.2024.100688},
note = {PubMed: 38327277},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bello-chavolla-2024-prevalence-determinants},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bello-chavolla-2024-prevalence-determinants
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