'Long COVID' syndrome
- PMID: 33875508
- PMCID: PMC8057566
- DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2020-241485
'Long COVID' syndrome
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global pandemic and an unprecedented public health crisis. Recent literature suggests the emergence of a novel syndrome known as 'long COVID', a term used to describe a diverse set of symptoms that persist after a minimum of 4 weeks from the onset of a diagnosed COVID-19 infection. Common symptoms include persistent breathlessness, fatigue and cough. Other symptoms reported include chest pain, palpitations, neurological and cognitive deficits, rashes, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. We present a complex case of a previously well 28-year-old woman who was diagnosed with COVID-19. After resolution of her acute symptoms, she continued to experience retrosternal discomfort, shortness of breath, poor memory and severe myalgia. Investigations yielded no significant findings. Given no alternative diagnosis, she was diagnosed with 'long COVID'.
Keywords: COVID-19; respiratory medicine.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Conflict of interest statement
Competing interests: None declared.
Similar articles
-
Sex-Related Differences in Long-COVID-19 Syndrome.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022 May;31(5):620-630. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2021.0411. Epub 2022 Mar 25. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022. PMID: 35333613
-
[Practical management of long Covid disease in outpatients: illustration by clinical cases].Rev Med Suisse. 2021 Nov 10;17(758):1915-1921. Rev Med Suisse. 2021. PMID: 34755940 French.
-
Long COVID Clusters of Symptoms Persist beyond Two Years after Infection: Insights from the CARDIO COVID 20-21 Registry.Viruses. 2024 Jun 26;16(7):1028. doi: 10.3390/v16071028. Viruses. 2024. PMID: 39066191 Free PMC article.
-
Symptom Profiles and Progression in Hospitalized and Nonhospitalized Patients with Coronavirus Disease, Colorado, USA, 2020.Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Feb;27(2):385-395. doi: 10.3201/eid2702.203729. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021. PMID: 33496225 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Long COVID update: respiratory sequelae and symptoms.Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2025 Jun 1;19(2):95-102. doi: 10.1097/SPC.0000000000000755. Epub 2025 Apr 2. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2025. PMID: 40170623 Review.
Cited by
-
Post-COVID-19 and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Literature Review.Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Nov 6;59(11):1961. doi: 10.3390/medicina59111961. Medicina (Kaunas). 2023. PMID: 38004010 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Muscle dysfunction in the long coronavirus disease 2019 syndrome: Pathogenesis and clinical approach.Rev Med Virol. 2022 Nov;32(6):e2355. doi: 10.1002/rmv.2355. Epub 2022 Apr 13. Rev Med Virol. 2022. PMID: 35416359 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Cardiac Complications of COVID-19 in Low-Risk Patients.Viruses. 2022 Jun 17;14(6):1322. doi: 10.3390/v14061322. Viruses. 2022. PMID: 35746793 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Most Common Long COVID Physical Symptoms in Working Age Adults Who Experienced Mild COVID-19 Infection: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Dec 19;10(12):2577. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10122577. Healthcare (Basel). 2022. PMID: 36554098 Free PMC article.
-
Persistent neurological manifestations in long COVID-19 syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.J Infect Public Health. 2022 Aug;15(8):856-869. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.06.013. Epub 2022 Jun 23. J Infect Public Health. 2022. PMID: 35785594 Free PMC article.
References
-
- WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) . Dashboard | WHO coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. Available: https://covid19.who.int/ [Accessed 21 Dec 2020].
-
- Singhal T. A review of coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). Indian J Pediatr 2020;87:281–6 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3216660710.1007/s12098-020-03263-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Flaherty GT, Hession P, Liew CH, et al. . COVID-19 in adult patients with pre-existing chronic cardiac, respiratory and metabolic disease: a critical literature review with clinical recommendations. Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines 2020;6:16 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3286898410.1186/s40794-020-00118-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Greenhalgh T, Knight M, A'Court C, et al. . Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care. BMJ 2020;370:m3026. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32784198 10.1136/bmj.m3026 - DOI - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous