While most COVID-19 patients recover, we are seeing more and more cases of Long COVID emerging … but who gets it and why?
A year ago, no-one would have predicted what would happen in 2020: from the rough start here in Australia with the devastation of a truly horrific fire season, to the madness of the pandemic.
As medical professionals, it’s fair to say we faced a unique set of challenges as COVID-19 turned the world upside down.
Understandably, the initial focus was clearly on assessing patients with acute COVID-19. This was without a doubt a challenging time as we tried to navigate the ever-changing information and guidelines, whilst doing our utmost to care for our patients.
But as the weeks (and months) passed by, it became clear that while most patients survived, not everyone was getting better – enter “Long COVID”.
So what is Long COVID?
It was realised early on in the pandemic that many people with COVID-19 were experiencing prolonged symptoms, some very prolonged and some very troubling.
It was also presumed based on our experiences with similar viruses such as SARS and MERS, that a proportion of affected people would develop long-term sequelae.
The term “Long COVID” came into widespread use early on in the pandemic and seems to have stuck in both our and the public’s minds.
There is currently no national guidance on how to manage patients with Long COVID; however the UK’s RCGP, NICE and SIGN are currently collaborating on this, with the hope to publish by the end of 2020.
This disease is in its infancy and whilst our knowledge improves as each week passes, there are still many questions:
Who gets Long COVID and why?
What effects can it cause and how long does it last?
When should we reassure our patients and when should we investigate?
Dr Neal Tucker is a GP working in England, where they are seeing progressively more and more patients with Long COVID.
In partnership with Medcast here in Australia, Dr Neal Tucker and Dr Joanna Bruce will be running a free webinar sharing insights and knowledge we have on Long COVID and how to best care for our patients.
Long COVID free webinar | Wednesday 2 December | 8:00PM AEDT
Register now: https://medca.st/2Jdsnv9
This webinar is part of Medcast’s COVID-19 Webinar Series, designed to help GPs, Registrars, Practice Managers and Owners during the pandemic.
