Editorial: On the cusp of the silent wave of the long COVID pandemic: why, what and how should we tackle this emerging syndrome... 2024 Westermeier+

Full title: Editorial: On the cusp of the silent wave of the long COVID pandemic: why, what and how should we tackle this emerging syndrome in the clinic and population?

1 Context

There is an urgent public health problem due to the rising number of individuals who remain with their health and daily functions impaired for months and even years after a SARS-CoV-2 infection (1). This impairment is encapsulated by a new medical condition known as post COVID-19 syndrome, post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and persistent post-COVID-19 syndrome. The general public knows this condition as long COVID (LC), a coined termed by patients at the beginning of the pandemic (1).

Individuals with LC report experiencing many symptoms, including fatigue, post-exertional malaise (PEM), and sleep disturbances (2). Coincidently, these specific symptoms are the heart of the most consensual case definitions of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a “older” disease often triggered by an infection (e.g., infectious mononucleosis) and also causing high levels of physical and mental distress (3). It is then no surprise that individuals with LC can also receive an ME/CFS diagnosis (4, 5). This diagnostic overlap is the main reason for the growing interest in understanding the medical relationship between LC and ME/CFS in order to accelerate the development of efficacious pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for the benefit of the patients (6–8).

The present Research Topic aimed then at gathering new data on the public health and medicine of LC and ME/CFS. The Research Topic compiled 11 papers of which nine were original research. Seven papers concerned LC directly or indirectly. The remaining four papers focused on ME/CFS specifically or together with LC. Below the reader can find a brief account of the research conducted.

Open access, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1483693/full