As Greece continues to battle - like many other countries - to contain coronavirus and tackle COVID-19 infection, a new health risk requires immediate management.
This is Long COVID syndrome, an emerging chronic condition from May 2020 that affects up to 30% of those who contracted coronavirus, whether or not they had to be hospitalised. Scientific and health authorities are already being asked to respond to this major new challenge for the health and insurance system, with COVID-19 infection not only not being brought under control, but also feeding the reservoir of Long COVID cases at an unabated rate.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 30% of people who contract coronavirus will develop Long COVID symptoms. In Britain it has been announced that this syndrome now affects at least 2 million citizens. The term includes symptoms and complications (late or long-term) that persist or occur four weeks after coronavirus infection, regardless of age, and last for three or more months. In 5%-10% of cases, symptoms may persist for up to one year after infection.
It is worth noting that in total more than 200 symptoms have been recorded, some of which are very severe and associated with vital functions (cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, cognitive) of the body and cannot be attributed to any condition other than COVID-19 infection.
While the epidemic is on the rise in our country, it is estimated that up to 200,000 people have an active COVID-19 infection. Experts are relieved that the rise in cases has been decoupled from the admission of patients to intensive care units, but the mandatory use of masks in enclosed spaces to contain the coronavirus is once again on the table. The number of inpatients reaches 1,800, causing minor arrhythmias in hospitals.
In Greece more than 3.7 million infections have been recorded, which means that up to 1.1 million people may be suffering from Long COVID syndrome and suffering from various symptoms. The path that patients with Long COVID syndrome take in seeking medical help and a solution to their problem is a difficult one, with many detours until it is completed, if it is completed. This is evidenced by the data of the Ministry of Health, according to which only 24,500 patients have received medical care since 2020.
For its part, the Ministry, in collaboration with the competent bodies, following the European guidelines, is launching the creation of an integrated framework of structures and overall management of patients through the system of electronic prescription with the diagnosis code, protocols of tests and treatments, their reimbursement, etc.etc. to produce a complete map for the treatment and management of the syndrome.
Symptoms of the syndrome
New or persistent symptoms (more than 200) may occur in patients with COVID-19, regardless of the severity of the initial infection. In addition to the respiratory symptoms that were the first to be affected by coronavirus, patients may experience fatigue, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, tachycardia, orthostatic pressure, myocarditis, pericarditis, neurological symptoms (dysregulation, cognitive deficits, etc.), rarely pulmonary embolism. These symptoms may be relapsing and may be triggered after stress, dehydration, physical fatigue.
For the scientific community, Long COVID syndrome is new, as the range and intensity of symptoms after infection are not found in any other case. For example, mainly fatigue is recorded after influenza or pneumonia, or in infections caused by herpes viruses the syndrome of long fatigue. However, never before has such an extent of post-illness affection of several systems of the body been recorded.
The data of the first Greek study (carried out by a group of Greek scientists, including the Associate Professor of Pulmonology at the University of Athens, Paraskevi Katsaounou, the biochemical biotechnologist, researcher at the University of Athens, Martha-Spyridoula Katsarou and the paediatrician, president of Long COVID Greece, Eleni Iasonidou), which also records data from patients who were not hospitalised during the coronavirus infection phase. According to these, 68.5% of patients who were not hospitalized during the acute phase suffer from fatigue, 16.8% from shortness of breath, 28.7% from difficulty concentrating and 28% from tachycardia.
Source: Proto Thema
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