What is long COVID?

You’ve heard a lot about COVID-19 but now you are wondering: What is Long COVID?

Long COVID is a new clinical diagnosis, emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Survivors of COVID-19 reported new mental and physical problems that persisted for weeks or months after their acute COVID-19 symptoms passed.  The current working definition of long COVID is:

What kinds of problems?

• Shortness of Breath
• Poor endurance
• “Brain fog”
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Headache
• Palpitations and/or tachycardia
• Joint pain
• Muscle aches
• Tingling and numbness
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Sleep difficulties
• Fever
• Lightheadedness
• Unable to function daily
• Pain
• Rash (e.g., urticaria)
• Mood changes
• Loss of smell and taste
• Menstrual cycle irregularities

As you can see, these symptoms are not unique to COVID-19 and are often seen in other medical conditions.  The observation that they occur as new problems after COVID-19 is likely related to the body systems involved in the acute infection phase.  Both the CDC and the WHO are actively considering this disorder and though their definitions are different, they are unified in emphasizing both the large number of patients experiencing it and the need to develop a health system response to care for sufferers.

If you believe you have long COVID, schedule an appointment on Wellivery to get an assessment.

Long COVID is a fascinating medical challenge!  Helping patients navigate to recovery from Long COVID is a top priority at Wellivery.  Keep track of Long COVID developments by bookmarking the Wellivery Long COVID page.