Long COVID: different organs affected

Nearly a third of people seriously affected by COVID present abnormalities in different organs, five months after leaving hospital.

When COVID first appeared, the illness was mostly seen as a respiratory infection, with coughing, shortness of breath, and pneumonia-like symptoms. But over time, it became clear that the virus was not only capable of affecting the lungs, but also other organs.

In some patients, the immune system, in wanting to fight the virus, triggers a “cytokine storm”. This can cause damage to organs that were not directly attacked by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Even after surviving the initial infection, patients continue to present disabling symptoms affecting several organs: this “long COVID” is estimated to affect one in ten people. COVID would therefore not just be a short-term respiratory illness, but an illness likely to cause long-term complications.

Abnormalities that affect the lungs, brain and kidneys

In the United Kingdom, a study, called C-More, was launched to better understand long COVID. Initial results, based on a sample of 259 people hospitalized with COVID and 52 people who did not contract COVID, were published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Patients were evaluated 5 months after hospital discharge. Nearly one in three patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had multi-organ damage. On the site The ConversationBetty Raman (University of Oxford), main author of this study specifies: “MRI scans found that people with long COVID were 14 times more likely to have lung abnormalities than people who never had the disease, three times more likely to have brain abnormalities, and twice as likely to have kidney abnormalities. »

The magnitude of MRI abnormalities was related to the severity of COVID, age and the existence or not of other illnesses. People with long COVID and abnormalities affecting more than two organs were four times more likely to report mental and physical disability “serious” or “very serious”.

However, this study has limitations: the researchers did not have MRI exams of the patients before COVID, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions on the link between COVID and organ changes. Additionally, the control group participants did not exactly match the patient population, but “We adjusted our analyzes to account for the differences, ensuring that the results were as accurate as possible,” says Betty Raman,

For her, “Based on the results of our study, doctors and health departments around the world can now refine follow-up care, with a focus on health of the lungs, brain, kidneys and blood vessels in patients recovering from severe COVID virus infection. »

Long COVID in France

According to Public Health France, 2 million people in France were affected by long COVID at the end of 2022. These people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report persistent symptoms several weeks or even several months after infection.

In 2025, Franco-British research carried out by a CNRS researcher highlighted a link between menstrual cycle and long COVID. According to its results, women with long COVID are more likely to have abnormal uterine bleeding. In addition, symptoms of the disease, such as fatigue, headaches and muscle pain, intensify at certain periods of the cycle. An inflammatory reaction is suspected to be the origin of this link.

The prevalence of long COVID is twice as high in women as in men.