Saloma, Cynthia P, Ayes, Marc Edsel C, Taracatac, Paolo S et al. · Frontiers in medicine · 2024 · DOI
This study followed people in the Philippines who had COVID-19 to see how long their symptoms lasted and whether different COVID variants caused different long-term problems. Researchers checked in with patients three times over a year and found that most people (68-88%) still had symptoms months after infection, with fatigue, brain fog, and headaches being the most common. The good news was that symptoms generally improved over time, though many people continued to struggle with debilitating effects.
This study documents that Long COVID affects a large proportion of people across different SARS-CoV-2 variants and persists for at least a year, supporting the need for healthcare systems to recognize and support long-term COVID sequelae—a concern that parallels ME/CFS recognition challenges. The identification of post-exertional malaise as a cardinal symptom strengthens connections between Long COVID and ME/CFS pathophysiology, emphasizing the importance of monitoring and accommodating exertional intolerance in both conditions.
This study does not establish causation between specific variants and distinct symptom profiles, nor does it clarify whether symptom improvement reflects true recovery or adaptation. It cannot determine whether observed symptoms meet formal ME/CFS diagnostic criteria, and without a control group (non-infected or mildly infected individuals), it does not establish that reported symptoms are unique to COVID-19 infection rather than attributable to concurrent conditions or confounders.
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
Saloma, Cynthia P, Ayes, Marc Edsel C, Taracatac, Paolo S, & Asa, Meryl Rose Q (2024). Long-term COVID-19 sequelae by Theta and SARS-CoV-2 variants in a Philippine cohort.. Frontiers in medicine. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2024.1455729
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-saloma-2024-long-term,
author = {Saloma, Cynthia P and Ayes, Marc Edsel C and Taracatac, Paolo S and Asa, Meryl Rose Q},
title = {Long-term COVID-19 sequelae by Theta and SARS-CoV-2 variants in a Philippine cohort.},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2024.1455729},
note = {PubMed: 39421860},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/saloma-2024-long-term},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/saloma-2024-long-term
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