long covid

Introduction

Long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to the persistence of symptoms in individuals who have recovered from the acute phase of COVID-19. This condition has garnered significant attention due to its complex and multifaceted nature, affecting various organ systems and leading to prolonged morbidity.

Key Insights

Common Symptoms and Prevalence:
- Long COVID is characterized by symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness, chest pain, myalgia, cognitive impairment, and anxiety/depression .
- The prevalence of long COVID symptoms varies, with studies reporting that 13.3% of individuals experience symptoms lasting more than 28 days, 4.5% for more than 8 weeks, and 2.3% for more than 12 weeks .
Risk Factors:
- Increased age, higher body mass index (BMI), and female sex are associated with a higher likelihood of developing long COVID .
- Experiencing more than five symptoms during the first week of illness significantly increases the risk of long COVID.
Pathophysiology:
- Long COVID may result from long-term organ damage due to acute-phase infection, immune dysregulation, auto-immunity, endothelial dysfunction, occult viral persistence, and coagulation activation .
- Damage to the autonomic nervous system could account for many symptoms without clear evidence of organ damage.
Impact on Quality of Life:
- A significant proportion of long COVID patients report reduced quality of life, with symptoms affecting physical, psychological, and social well-being .
Patient Advocacy and Terminology:
- The term "Long COVID" was coined by patients who used social media to share their experiences and advocate for recognition of the condition. This grassroots movement has been instrumental in bringing attention to the prolonged and diverse symptoms of long COVID .

Conclusion

Long COVID is a multifaceted condition with a wide range of symptoms that can persist for months after the initial infection. Common symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness, and cognitive impairment, with risk factors such as age, BMI, and female sex playing a significant role. The pathophysiology of long COVID is complex, involving potential long-term organ damage and immune dysregulation. Patient advocacy has been crucial in highlighting the condition and pushing for further research and better management strategies. Understanding and addressing long COVID is essential for improving the quality of life for affected individuals.

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Long COVID: An overview

Long COVID symptoms include fatigue, cough, chest tightness, breathlessness, palpitations, myalgia, and difficulty to focus, and should be managed by identifying the pathophysiology and appropriate remedial measures.

Attributes and predictors of long COVID

Long COVID symptoms, characterized by fatigue, headache, dyspnea, and anosmia, are more likely with increasing age, BMI, and female sex, and a simple model can identify individuals at risk early in the disease.

Characterising long COVID: a living systematic review

Long COVID is a complex condition with prolonged heterogeneous symptoms, requiring further prospective, robust, standardised, controlled studies to better understand its aetiology, risk factors, and biomarkers.

Symptoms and signs of long COVID: A rapid review and meta-analysis

Long COVID symptoms include fatigue, dyspnea, olfactory dysfunction, myalgia, cough, and gustatory dysfunction, with high heterogeneity in meta-analysis affecting pooled incidence estimates.

Pathophysiology and mechanism of long COVID: a comprehensive review

Long COVID symptoms may result from long-term organ damage and specific mechanisms following acute illness, with the underlying pathophysiology still unclear.

Long COVID, a comprehensive systematic scoping review

Long COVID has controversies in definition, with predominant symptoms including fatigue, breathlessness, arthralgia, sleep difficulties, and chest pain, and potential long-term health complications.

How and why patients made Long Covid

Patients collectively made Long Covid by using evidence and advocacy to demonstrate a longer, more complex course of illness than initially reported, and this knowledge should be incorporated into COVID-19 conceptualization, research, and treatment.

Incidence, co-occurrence, and evolution of long-COVID features: A 6-month retrospective cohort study of 273,618 survivors of COVID-19

Long-COVID symptoms are more common and co-occur more frequently in COVID-19 survivors compared to influenza patients, with differences in incidence and co-occurrence based on sex, age, and illness severity.

Why the Patient-Made Term 'Long Covid' is needed

The patient-made term 'Long Covid' is crucial for addressing medical, epidemiological, and socio-political challenges posed by diverse symptoms persisting beyond four weeks after symptom onset in COVID-19 patients.

COVID-19 in a Long-Term Care Facility — King County, Washington, February 27–March 9, 2020

Effective infection control and prevention are crucial for long-term care facilities to protect residents and preserve the healthcare workforce from COVID-19-related severe disease and death.

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