Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an update on July 24 urging health care providers and public health officials to raise awareness of the symptoms of “long COVID,” a condition the CDC states can last weeks, months, or even years after an infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

In the update, the agency said that public health professionals should continue to “promote awareness of Long COVID, help combat the stigma that patients with Long COVID encounter, and emphasize prevention of Long COVID,” while encouraging people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

In another July 24 update, the federal health agency said that “symptoms that can range from mild to severe and may be similar to symptoms from other illnesses” that can “last weeks, months, or years after COVID-19 illness and can emerge, persist, resolve, and reemerge over different lengths of time.”

According to the update, symptoms include fatigue that interferes with daily life, symptoms that worsen after physical or mental effort, fever, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chest pain, coughing, and a fast-beating or pounding heart.

Some symptoms could be neurological, the CDC said. That includes “brain fog,” or difficulty in thinking and concentrating; sleeping problems; dizziness when standing up; depression or anxiety; a change in smell; or a pins-and-needles feeling.

Other symptoms can include digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation, and stomach pain, the agency adds. Joint or muscle pain, rash, and changes in the menstrual cycle are also reported symptoms of long COVID, according to the CDC.

“More than 200 Long COVID symptoms have been identified. However, fatigue, brain fog, and exhaustion (post-exertional malaise) are among the commonly reported symptoms of Long COVID,” the CDC said.

COVID-19 activity was classified as low nationwide, the agency said on July 25. Respiratory illness activity, including RSV and influenza, was also described as “very low.”

CDC wastewater activity indicates that COVID-19 is increasing in Southeast, Southern, and West Coast states as of the most recent update.

A map of wastewater levels released by the CDC last week showed that levels are “very high” in one state, Louisiana, and “high” in Florida and Hawaii.

No other states were experiencing high or very high levels.

The CDC, until recently, had recommended that all individuals aged 6 months or older receive a COVID-19 vaccine annually, regardless of prior vaccination or infection.

After orders from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC recently stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women.

The Food and Drug Administration has limited new approvals for COVID-19 vaccines to the elderly and younger people with underlying health conditions that can increase the risk of severe COVID-19.

“Where the parent presents with a desire for their child to be vaccinated, children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare provider and personal preference and circumstances,” the CDC said in late May.