COVID-19 patients may not need to wait long after being infected to know if they will develop post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS), also known as long COVID, according to a paper published this week in Nature Communications.

“We want to be able to recognize and identify, as early as possible, who is at risk of developing long COVID,” said Dr. Onur Boyman, a co-author of the study and researcher in the department of immunology at University Hospital Zurich.

“The most frequent symptoms of long COVID are reported to be fatigue, dyspnea [shortness of breath], and cognitive impairment (also termed ‘brain fog,’ which includes loss of concentration and memory), as well as pain and aches at different sites (including headache), cough, change in smell or taste, and diarrhea,” the study said.