![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2bd169y-young-girl-caught-cold-703359680.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cLONG colds\u201d have existed for years and are just as common as long Covid, scientists say.<\/p>\n
An estimated two million Brits believed they had long Covid, with symptoms lasting a month or more, in the latest figures in March.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tiredness, shortness of breath, aches and pains and trouble concentrating are the top complaints.<\/p>\n
Experts at Queen Mary University of London now say the same thing happens after a common cold.<\/p>\n
Data from more than 10,000 people found \u201clong colds\u201d are just as common.<\/p>\n
People complained of coughing, stomach pain and diarrhoea lasting for four weeks or more after illness.<\/p>\n
Medics have long known it as post-viral fatigue associated with a range of viral infections.<\/p>\n Study author Giulia Vivaldi said: \u201cAs research into long Covid continues, we need to take the opportunity to investigate the lasting effects of other respiratory infections.<\/p>\n \u201cThese \u2018long\u2019 infections are so difficult to diagnose and treat primarily because of a lack of diagnostic tests and there being so many possible symptoms.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been more than 200 investigated for long Covid alone.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Professor Adrian Martineau added: \u201cResearch is important because it can help us to get to the root of why some people experience more prolonged symptoms than others.\u201d<\/p>\n For the study, experts looked at data from 10,203 people in a coronavirus study.<\/p>\n At the time of the analysis 1,343 had been infected with Covid and 472 had had a lung infection that tested negative.<\/p>\n The results showed that 22 per cent of people with Covid-19 suffered prolonged symptoms after infection, as did 22 per cent of those who had an infection that was not Covid.<\/p>\n Prof Martineau said people were more likely to suffer taste and smell problems after Covid.<\/p>\n They also suffered heart palpitations, sweating and hair loss.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, those in the non-Covid group were more likely to have a cough or a hoarse voice.<\/p>\n Both groups suffered breathlessness and fatigue.<\/p>\n The study also suggested that the more serious a bout of illness, the greater the chance of having long-term symptoms.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/doctor-making-vaccination-child-752701242.jpg\")
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