Lancet - Long COVID: An opportunity to focus on post-acute infection syndromes

[Mij]

Long COVID is known by different names, such as post COVID-19 condition, post-COVID-19 syndrome, or post-Covid conditions, all of which include a wide range of persistent or new symptoms that develop after SARS-CoV-2 infection and last for typically more than 12 weeks to months and up to 2 years, so far. The most common symptoms can be broadly categorized into neurological symptoms (fatigue, brain fog, and headache), respiratory symptoms (chest pain and shortness of breath), and diverse symptoms (heart palpitations and muscle pain).

These symptoms are often debilitating enough to leave patients unable to work and are similar to those of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and those triggered after infections with Ebola virus, poliovirus, borrelia (Lyme Disease), and even SARS-CoV, which fall under the well-known concept of post-acute infection syndrome.


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666776222002368?via=ihub

 

[cassava7]

It is pleasantly surprising to see such an editorial in a Lancet journal (The Lancet Regional Health — Europe).

 

[duncan]

Pretty good piece. Wish they had written something like "post-acute infection(?) syndrome".

Also, this I found meaningless:
"The third challenge is that no evidence-based treatment options exist at present for long COVID, resulting in the use of a symptom management approach, which mainly includes medical assessment and referral to the appropriate specialist, physical and/or psychological therapy"

Other than possibly fellow patients who've wandered this territory longer and managed to hang on, there are no appropriate specialists. At least not for LC's Lyme and ME/CFS counterparts. There is just a dehumanizing nexus of posturing clueless human blebs, a few notable exceptions notwithstanding. Referrals. Geez. It's like getting ten prescriptions to ten different pharmacies and each pharmacy saying there is no such medicine.

 

[BrightCandle]

However, the recent amount of attention and resources allocated to long COVID could present the perfect opportunity for breakthroughs in the treatment of post-acute infection syndromes....
Therefore, governments and the medical and scientific community must commit to funding and accelerating research to develop targeted and effective treatments for post-acute infection syndromes.

Yes more research is required but if governments haven't committed funds now I can't imagine that changing much in the coming years. They are all too busy calling Covid over.