Living with long COVID

ABSTRACT

One in five people have symptoms that persist after 5 weeks, and one in ten have symptoms for 12 weeks or longer after an acute COVID-19 infection (Office for National Statistics [ONS], 2020). NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2020) defines this condition as post-COVID syndrome or long COVID. Common symptoms vary from fatigue, shortness of breath, palpitations, insomnia and anxiety and depression and encompasses a plethora of debilitating symptoms (Dani et al, 2021). The new guideline for NICE (2021) recommends that patients presenting with new or ongoing symptoms 4 weeks or later after an initial COVID infection should have the investigations done to rule out acute, life-threatening complications or identify any unrelated diagnosis (NICE, 2021). Garg et al (2020) suggests that long COVID is a multisystem syndrome and needs a multifaceted approach to tackle the physical, cognitive, psychological, social, and vocational aspects of this condition. This article looks at the literature about long COVID and suggests there is a clear pathway for treatment in primary care. Certainly that all physicians should be equipped to recognise long-COVID and provide supportive management (Dani et al, 2021).