The World Health Organization declared an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency in May 2023, but people continue to grapple with long COVID. This is a chronic condition that comes after SARS-CoV-2 infection. It remains present for up to three months.
COVID has been recorded in around 10 percent of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. A study stated that over 200 symptoms impacting multiple organ systems have been identified. Experts highlighted that one year after the initial infection, SARS-CoV-2 infections increased the risk of cardiac arrest, death, diabetes, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, and stroke.
In India, doctors find it difficult to diagnose and treat unexplained and persistent symptoms of long COVID patients because of limited guidelines. Symptoms vary and persist well beyond the acute COVID infection.
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Long COVID Challenges Healthcare Systems
A recent study established that 31 percent of the once-infected people in North America, 44 percent in Europe, and 51 percent in Asia have long COVID. This is challenging the healthcare system because there are limited guidelines for its treatment.
A similar research by Maulana Azad Medical College (New Delhi), which was conducted from May 2022 to March 2023 on 553 patients who had recovered from COVID, found that about 45 percent had lingering symptoms, dry cough, and persistent fatigue.
Dr Rajesh Sagar, Professor of Psychiatry at AIIMS New Delhi, said it is too premature to say that they understand the condition well enough to know how to diagnose or treat it. Animesh Samanta, assistant professor at the School of Natural Sciences in Shiv Nadar University, agreed that there is a need for more focused research on neuroinflammation.
Dr Christian Sandrock, UC Davis Health critical care and emerging infectious diseases expert said long COVID appears to be related to an imbalance in serotonin levels. This is because of the ongoing replications of the COVID-19 virus in the gastrointestinal tract. Sandrock explained that this drives neurocognitive symptoms like brain fog, memory loss, or mood changes.
The expert added that they are yet to establish how long, long COVID lasts. He said research is ongoing.
