August 17, 2022

Risk of neurological and psychiatric conditions 2 years after COVID-19 infection

Researchers have studied medical records from over 1.25 million people in the US to assess the risk of developing neurological and psychiatric conditions after COVID-19 infection and compared this to other respiratory infections. They have looked at the risks of conditions such as psychosis, dementia, ‘brain fog’, seizures, anxiety and depression.

The group has presented findings from this dataset previously, but they now have data up to two years post infection. This paper also looks at these risks in children and between different variants.

We invited two of the authors to explain their latest findings and answer journalists’ questions.

The work is published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Speakers included:

Prof Paul Harrison, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

Dr Max Taquet, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry, University of Oxford

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of Comments.