we are heading into cold and flu season in the midst of a covid-19 summer surge Nationwide and researchers are watching to see what this means for a potential winter Peak but doctors tell us it's not just the initial infection they're worried about it's also the lasting impacts from long covid as new research gives more insight into the disease ABC Action News reporter Lissa Scott is live in Tampa now she spoke with several experts about the changes they're seeing good morning Lissa what are they telling you hey good morning Dia and Heather long Co is a collection of symptoms that can be hard to diagnose but doctors say what's becoming clearer is who can be affected they say that's everyone regardless of age in many ways long Co remains a mystery there's no playbook for it the CDC defines long CO as when you have symptoms that last 3 months or longer the persons with more severe disease are more likely to have long covid however people can have mild disease and also have long covid at the beginning of the Pand mic most people with severe symptoms were hospitalized because of extreme issues with breathing and if they survived they had lingering respiratory problems now doctors tell me that's changed and the patients who come into the hospital can have a range of concerns it can affect anything from head to toe whether it's your pulmonary your respiratory system your GI tract uh your muscular skeletal system there's no way to tell and no way to say what organ system is going to be affected by it new research sheds light on how the virus is evolving and that everyone is at risk of a developing long covid unfortunately though we're now seeing that long covid can be in any age group studies say about 6 million children are likely living with long covid and while any body part can be affected people are most commonly reporting symptoms like brain fog dizziness fatigue and stomach issues recent data show younger children have reported anxiety and new phobias like fear of crowded spaces new research also continues to stress the importance of vaccination the vaccines do help to protect against long covid which is really important some of that um residual respiratory issues or residual brain fog that people have or that prolonged fatigue it can help with that and those updated covid vaccines are now available doctors suggest so that you wait at least 3 months from your last covid infection before getting one I'm love T of this morning Lissa Scott ABC Action News