For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced a definition of “postcocious patient”, also called “long-term COVID-19” and “long-term COVID-19”.
The bulletin, published today, explains that symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive dysfunction, which appear three months after the onset of the disease, last for at least two months and “cannot be explained by alternative diagnoses.”
The WHO explains that the definitions given by the experts are “different”, and this complicates the “research and development of clinical policy”. In this regard, 17 experts from the WHO working group consulted extensively with professionals, patients and staff to propose an agreed definition.
The result was as follows: “Postcoccal status occurs in people with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, usually three months after the onset of COVID-19, with symptoms that persist for at least two months and cannot be explained by alternative diagnoses. ».
Experts emphasize that “symptoms usually include fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction, but also others,” and this affects daily life. At the same time, symptoms may “begin to reappear after recovery from acute COVID-19 or persist after the initial illness.” In addition, symptoms may change over time, decrease and increase, or disappear and reappear.
According to the WHO newsletter, most patients return to normal life after “acute COVID-19”, but the rest of the survivors complain of health problems. The exact relationship between the two is unknown, but according to the study, about 10-20% of COVID-19 patients experience these symptoms for weeks and months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.