Long-term effects of COVID are real. Join the search for answers.search for
answers.

Have questions about the long-term health effects of the virus? Start by learning about PASC.

Share to Raise Awareness

RECOVER, an initiative from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), seeks to understand, prevent, and treat PASC, including Long COVID. PASC is a term scientists are using to study the potential consequences of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Progress takes inclusion.

COVID-19 has affected millions. While many people are suffering, people of color have been hit the hardest.

"NIH deeply appreciates the contributions of patients who have not fully recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection and who have offered their experiences and insights.... We now ask the patient, medical, and scientific communities to come together to help us understand the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection."

Francis Collins, MD, PhD
Director, National Institutes of Health
Read More

Risk for COVID-19 Hospitalization by Race/Ethnicity Compared to White, Non-Hispanic Persons

American Indian or Alaska Native
3.5x
Hispanic or Latino
3.0x
Black or African American
2.8x
Asian
1x
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Progress takes coordinated action.

Progress takes coordinated action.

Teamwork is at the heart of RECOVER. Many people, groups, and organizations are working together through a collection of studies referred to as the SARS-CoV-2 Recovery Cohort. These studies include diverse groups of people, including adults and children.

The studies will include participants from:

  • Long COVID clinics that treat people with ongoing symptoms
  • NIH-supported COVID-19 studies and networks
  • Established NIH-supported studies of other diseases and conditions
  • Other settings

What is PASC?

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that can infect the body, referred to as a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection can vary from person to person:

Acute Infection: Most people recover quickly from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Reported symptoms from people with acute infection range from mild to severe. In some cases, this is diagnosed as COVID-19. Other people do not experience any symptoms of infection. People who do not experience symptoms can also be diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

For some people, symptoms last weeks or months after the acute infection has passed. This is often referred to as Long COVID.

For other people, new symptoms may appear after the acute infection has passed whether or not they had symptoms during the acute infection.

Post-acute experience: Together, these and other health effects of the virus are called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC. PASC refers to what happens after the acute infection with the virus and is relevant whether a person has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or not. Even if someone did not experience symptoms, PASC is still relevant because there could be consequences after acute infection.

Post-acute experience: Together, these and other health effects of the virus are called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC. PASC refers to what happens after the acute infection of the virus and is relevant whether a person has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or not. Even if someone did not experience symptoms, PASC is still relevant because there could be consequences after acute infection.

Given the number of adults and children who have been or will experience SARS-CoV-2 infection, the public health impact of PASC could be very large.

Latest Updates

Taking someone's temperature

RECOVER asks:

What does recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection look like among different groups?
How many people continue to have symptoms after acute infection?
How many people develop new symptoms after acute infection?
What causes these health effects?
Why do some people develop these health effects while others do not?
Does SARS-CoV-2 infection trigger changes in the body that increase the risk of other conditions, such as chronic lung, heart, or brain disorders?

FAQs

What is NIH doing to address the ongoing health effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection?

Researchers leading Recovery Cohort studies have a broad range of expertise and will work together to identify the core set of information that will be collected and the tests that will be done on all Recovery Cohort participants.

Potential data sources include clinical exams, health records, autopsy reports, and a diverse range of biospecimens. Data repositories will receive and store the various types of data collected and analyzed. These data and biospecimens will be made available to the research community to support further studies of PASC.

Funding announcements and requests for information describing additional research activities are expected in the months ahead. For example, clinical trials will test approaches for treating or preventing the long-term health effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Study findings will be shared. Key features of the initiative include the long-term follow-up of patients and adapting research strategies as our understanding of PASC grows.

RECOVER may help us learn how people recover from viral infections in general. It may also help improve our understanding of other post-viral syndromes, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and autoimmune diseases—conditions in which the body's immune system attacks healthy cells.

The best way to protect yourself against these effects is to get vaccinated and encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to get the vaccine. Find a COVID-19 vaccination site near you at Vaccines.gov.

Explore COVID-19 Resources

Find COVID-19 research information and resources.

CARING for Children with COVID Initiative

Learn about NIH's COVID-19 research priorities with children.

NIH Community Engagement Alliance

Find information to help reach communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

Post-COVID Conditions: Information for Healthcare Providers

Find information to help treat patients.

Coronavirus.gov

Connect to COVID-19 resources.

CDC's COVID-19 Resources

Access CDC's resources on COVID-19.

Vaccines.gov

Find a COVID-19 vaccination site near you.

Combat COVID

Find clinical trials focused on preventing or treating COVID-19.

Temas de Salud: COVID-19

Find Spanish-language, COVID-19 resources.