On December 23, 2020, I have posted an extensive message on Long COVID. Long COVID, post-COVID Syndrome or COVID Associated Syndrome (CAS) all refer to persisting symptoms after coronavirus infection. In some individuals, COVID might not have resolved yet (recovery might be impaired), in others, inflammatory syndromes may occur.
Long COVID has to be defined in each individual case, which is why assessment and monitoring of post-COVID patients is needed. People with persistent health complaints should not be overlooked, but instead should be investigated to prevent long-term health impairment. For long COVID to dissolve, individual and specific recovery treatment is required.
There are specific markers to rule out inflammatory syndromes; these should be included in the assessment of patients that present with persisting symptoms such as fatigue, fever, muscle pain, overall illness, impaired respiratory capacity and performance capacities. To rule out ongoing viral activity and to assess whether the patient has been infected, perform a RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 test and antigen test.
Possible etiologies of long COVID are: ongoing thrombotic/thrombo-embolic activity due to coronavirus infection, manifestations of neurological involvement, Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults (MIS-A) and CoVILD (a noun for COVID-interstitial lung disease).
Treatment options to consider are neuromotor training, speech therapy, physiotherapy to recover heart/lung/performance function and non-corticosteroid anti-inflammatory therapy. In order to obtain consecutive knowledge and treatment options for long COVID, the Royal College of General Practitioners has launched a course that includes possible diagnoses, guidelines, learning assessments and referral tools. The other course of importance is the COVID-19 Recovery Course, developed by the RCGP. This course provides additional information on best practices and experiences with 19 years of SARS-Coronavirus long-term health effects (since the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic from 2003-2005).
Resources that are of use to aid long COVID-19 recovery:
1. Primary Care Respiratory Support Society, PCRS COVID-19 Guidance;
2. RCGP Learning, Course: Recovery from COVID-19 (take the assessment to learn how to address persistent health complaints of COVID-19 affected patients, download guidelines and consult links to health organizations);
3. Royal College of Occupational Therapists: Recovering from COVID-19: Post viral-fatigue and conserving energy;
4. Sepsis trust Critical Care and Critical Illness Recovery, sepsis in COVID-19 and recovery;
5. Critical Care Recovery, COVID-19;
6. COVID-19 Resources for Practitioners;
7. COVID-19 Workforce Wellbeing practitioners
