Calculate your personal long COVID risk
This online calculator is for people who are looking to assess long COVID risk if infected with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2.
The University of Queensland-led team developed the CoRiCal COVID-19 Risk Calculator during the pandemic, and has now been updated to determine a person’s risk of developing long COVID.
The online calculator has been developed in conjunction with scientists, clinicians and shared decision-making researchers from Flinders University, QUT, the University of Sydney and the Immunisation Coalition, and provides a personalised risk assessment of developing long COVID at 6 months after infection.
Associate Professor Kirsty Short from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said the tool will be useful in helping tackle the obstinate disease.
Professor Short says at least 65 million people globally are thought to suffer from the post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), more commonly known as long COVID. It’s an incredibly debilitating disease causing more than 200 symptoms across 10 different organ systems and can affect individuals quite differently. Common symptoms include fatigue, brain fog and shortness of breath. While diagnosing and treating long COVID is still in its infancy, there is now a strong understanding of the risk factors associated with the condition’s development.
About long COVID calculator
The calculator takes into account a range of personal factors including age, sex, comorbidities, vaccination status, number of previous infections and use of antiviral medications. All of this data allows our research-backed algorithm to provide a personalised risk assessment of developing long COVID.
The interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate for people of all ages and technological proficiencies.
Associate Professor John Litt from Flinders University, a CoRiCal co-lead, said by helping to identify those who might be at higher risk, the tool allows for proactive measures and early interventions to potentially mitigate the severity and duration of long COVID symptoms. While many adults don’t see COVID as a big issue now, many are concerned about getting long COVID. The chance of suffering long COVID increases with every bout of COVID a person catches.
Dr Short highlights that the project also puts a spotlight on the controllable factors that can lead to long COVID. These include incomplete vaccination, missed drug treatment during acute infection and repeat infections which are the greatest controllable influences that increase risk. There are actions you can take right now to reduce that, said Professor Short.
Users of the new long COVID calculator
Health managers and individuals in conjunction with clinicians can use the risk assessment tool for shared decision making on vaccination, infection-avoidant behaviors and pursuing early treatment during acute infection.
The Long COVID research team would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Health Research Accelarator Operational Research and Decision Support for Prevention, Control and Elimination of Infectious Diseases team at UQ’s Centre for Clinical Research, who have supported the modelling and interactive interface aspect of the project.
Use the Long Covid Calculator here.