The term Long Covid describes health problems that appear 3 months after infection, with symptoms that persist for at least two months and for which there is no other alternative diagnosis.
Those who are sick with Covid-19, but also those who go through it even without symptoms, should be particularly careful with the passage of time, points out to APE-MPE the professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the EKPA, Pathologist Theodora Psaltopoulou, who points out that “the gradual reduction in mortality from the coronavirus, due to vaccination and the development of effective pharmaceuticals, combined with the greater transmissibility of the coronavirus strains, has led to millions of people in “long Covid” or “post-Covid” (post-Covid) internationally”.
Who is most likely to experience ‘long Covid’ or ‘post-Covid’
According to the CDC, she emphasizes, this syndrome occurs more often in 3 categories of people. “In people who have been hospitalized or intubated, but it can also occur in people with moderate symptoms or even no symptoms, with only a positive Covid diagnosis.” Additionally, he says people who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus have a greater risk of developing it compared to vaccinated people who get sick again. “The last category that has a higher probability of post-Covid syndrome is people with other morbidities before the disease”explains Ms. Psaltopoulou.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the term “long Covid” includes health issues that present in patients 3 months after probable or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, with symptoms and signs that persist for at least 2 months afterwards, and for which there is no other alternative diagnosis, he emphasizes.
“Symptoms can be new, after recovery from the infection, or persistent from the original infection,” says Ms Psaltopoulou.
One in 8 adult coronavirus patients shows symptoms of prolonged Covid
According to what he says to APE-MPE, last week the prestigious international journal The Lancet dedicated its main article (editorial) to this syndrome. “In adults, and according to a new study from the Netherlands, about one in eight adult patients with Covid-19 subsequently develop long-term symptoms of the disease caused by the coronavirus. The important element in the Dutch research is that patients with Covid infection were compared with people who were not infected (control group)”, he points out, explaining that the main symptoms of long-term Covid-19 are, according to the study, respiratory and cardiovascular , the musculoskeletal and nervous system, as well as general symptoms.
“More specifically, among the most common symptoms recorded are: chest pain but also chest pain when breathing, shortness of breath, muscle pains, loss of smell and/or taste and general fatigue and weakness,” he says in APE-MPE the professor of Pathology of the EKPA, reminding that the EODY and the Hellenic Pulmonology Society have detailed the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of the post-Covid syndrome, where a multitude of complications are presented: respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, dermatological, rheumatological, endocrine, neuropsychiatric, vascular, urological, gastrointestinal and others, such as prolonged decimal febrile motion, weight loss and allergies, chronic pain and exacerbation of comorbidities.
The latest data on the appearance of post-covid in children up to 17 years old
Regarding the post-Covid-19 syndrome in children, he emphasizes that in a recent publication by the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, USA) concerning post-Covid in children and adolescents (aged 0 to 17 years) the data was checked in 780,000 children and adolescents with a positive molecular test against SARS-CoV-2.
“It was observed that patients with Covid-19 disease, compared to patients without a history of disease, presented the following post-Covid conditions: pulmonary embolism, myocarditis and cardiomyopathy, venous thromboembolic event, acute and unspecified renal failure, diabetes mellitus type I, coagulation and coagulation disorders – bleeding episodes, type II diabetes mellitus and cardiac arrhythmias. Young patients with Covid-19 were more likely to experience symptoms of post-covid syndrome as well, such as disturbances in taste and smell, circulatory disorders, weakness and musculoskeletal pain. Of course, it should be noted that all these pathological entities in children are very, very rare, whether they have been diagnosed with Covid or not. For example, there is a small increase in the relative risk (eg twice the relative risk for myocarditis) when a child gets Covid compared to not getting it,” he explains.
– What adults and children should pay attention to after recovering from Covid
“In case of symptoms that persist after the illness, it is advisable for the patient to contact his treating doctor, the local health center or the outpatient clinics of the hospitals and the management units for patients with post-Covid syndrome, in order to evaluate the signs and the symptoms, the basic laboratory and imaging tests should be performed, the corresponding questionnaires should be filled out, a clinical examination and holistic treatment should be performed” concludes Mrs. Psaltopoulou.
According to the EODY and the Hellenic Pulmonology Society, laboratory testing should be done according to the judgment of the attending physician, and not all patients who have contracted Covid-19 need to undergo laboratory testing, he points out and adds: “The programs rehabilitation may include different medical specialties (pulmonologists, cardiologists, neurologists, etc.), but also an ergophysiologist, physical therapist, dietitian or psychologist, depending on the scope and severity of the symptoms to be rehabilitated”.
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