More than two and a half years after its creation pandemicthe virus continues to cause new infections and re-infections, declaring itself “present” through long covid.

The risks of deaths and hospitalizations from coronavirus are now much lower, but more patients suffer symptoms such as fatigue, lack of mental clarity and shortness of breath for months after infection, which can disrupt their daily life.

According to the World Health Organization, the term “long-term Covid” includes health problems that appear in patients 3 months after a suspected or confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2, with symptoms and signs that persist for at least 2 months and for which there is no other alternative diagnosis.

Who is most at risk?

As Theodora Psaltopoulou, professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the Hellenic Academy of Sciences and pathologist, points out, the syndrome “long Covid” or “post-Covid” it occurs most often in 3 categories of people: “In people who have been hospitalized or intubated, but can also occur in people with mild or even no symptoms, only with a positive Covid diagnosis.”

In addition, he reports, unvaccinated people are at greater risk of developing it compared to vaccinated people who get sick again. “The last category that has a higher likelihood of post-COVID is people with other illnesses before the disease,” he explains.

One in eight adult patients show symptoms of prolonged Covid-19.

“In adults, 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 coronavirus. An important element of the Dutch study is that patients with Covid infection were compared with people who were not infected,” notes Theodora Psaltopoulou.

The main symptoms of long-term Covid-19, according to the study, are those of the respiratory and cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and nervous systems, as well as general symptoms.

“In particular, among the most common reported symptoms are: chest pain, as well as chest pain when breathing, shortness of breath, muscle pain, loss of smell and / or taste, and general fatigue and weakness,” says the professor at the Faculty of Medicine. EKPA.

EODY and the Hellenic Lung Society have detailed the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to post-COVID syndrome, in which there are many complications: respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, dermatological, rheumatological, endocrine, neuropsychiatric, vascular, urological, gastrointestinal and others, such as in in the form of prolonged decimal febrile movements, weight loss and allergies, chronic pain and exacerbation of concomitant diseases.

Postcovid appearance in children under 17 years of age

With regard to post-COVID syndrome in children, Ms. Psaltopoulou notes that a recent CDC publication on post-COVID syndrome in children and adolescents (aged 0 to 17 years) looked at data on 780,000 children and adolescents with a positive molecular test for SARS-CoV-2.

“It has been observed that in patients with Covid-19 disease, compared with patients without a medical history, the following post-COVID conditions were observed: pulmonary embolism, myocarditis and cardiomyopathy, venous thromboembolism, acute and unspecified renal failure, type I diabetes mellitus. , coagulation and coagulation disorders – episodes of bleeding, type II diabetes mellitus and cardiac arrhythmias. Young patients with Covid-19 were also more likely to experience symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome, such as impaired taste and smell, impaired circulation, weakness, and musculoskeletal pain. Of course, it should be noted that all these pathological formations in children are very, very rare, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with Covid or not. For example, there is a slight increase in relative risk (e.g. twice the relative risk of myocarditis) when a child becomes infected with Covid compared to when they are not infected,” he explains.

Do vaccines help reduce the chance of prolonged Covid?

Regarding whether vaccines help reduce the chance of long-term Covid, Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at the Yale School of Medicine, notes: “The reported effects of vaccines in preventing long-term Covid vary between studies. Some say vaccines halve the chance of prolonged Covid, while others see a decline of around 15%. Vaccines are likely to reduce the risk of long-term Covid, and booster doses contribute even more.”