The World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced a definition according to which we can speak of pocovid syndrome if it occurs three months after the acute phase of COVID-19, lasts at least two months, and diagnostic tests do not indicate another cause. The introduction of this definition has reduced the incidence of pocovid syndrome from dozens to 10-30 percent of patients who have undergone COVID-19
A team headed by Prof. Jaroszewicz and Prof. Mariusz Gąsior from the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases is conducting research on long covid. The Health Manager presents the results of the latest analysis on the diagnosis of complications after COVID-19. The results of the study of 200 people after COVID-19 were analyzed. Some of the patients were treated in the hospital, and some underwent the SARS-CoV-2 infection at home. The study showed that symptoms of long covid occur in about 30 percent of patients, and the most common are cough, fatigue, palpitations and smell and taste disorders. The disorders occurred both in patients with severe disease who were hospitalized and in those who COVID-19 at home. It is not necessarily the severity of the disease course that determines the onset of pocovid syndrome. Some of the symptoms persist beyond 12-18 months. In half of the patients after COVID-19, viral antigens remained in the intestines, activating the immune system.
Prof. Yaroshevich stresses that testing should not be ordered too early, because, especially after a severe course, all patients suffer some sequelae. Moreover, it is believed that testing for long covid should be ordered for patients who have respiratory, neurological, cardiac or other symptoms. Routine screening is not recommended. The Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Doctors of Infectious Diseases is updating the management guidelines for COVID-19, and the latest also includes guidance on how to proceed in cases of suspected long covid. The Council of the European Union lifted restrictions introduced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new recommendations, member states should not restrict travel for public health reasons. Such rules had been in place since March 2020 when EU leaders decided to curb the development of the pandemic in a coordinated manner.
