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Review
. 2023 Dec 6;1(4):231-240.
doi: 10.1016/j.pccm.2023.10.003. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Mechanisms of long COVID: An updated review

Yan Liu  1   2 , Xiaoying Gu  3 , Haibo Li  1 , Hui Zhang  1   4 , Jiuyang Xu  1
Affiliations
Review

Mechanisms of long COVID: An updated review

Yan Liu et al. Chin Med J Pulm Crit Care Med. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been ongoing for more than 3 years, with an enormous impact on global health and economies. In some patients, symptoms and signs may remain after recovery from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, which cannot be explained by an alternate diagnosis; this condition has been defined as long COVID. Long COVID may exist in patients with both mild and severe disease and is prevalent after infection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants. The most common symptoms include fatigue, dyspnea, and other symptoms involving multiple organs. Vaccination results in lower rates of long COVID. To date, the mechanisms of long COVID remain unclear. In this narrative review, we summarized the clinical presentations and current evidence regarding the pathogenesis of long COVID.

Keywords: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; Long COVID; Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig 1:
Fig. 1
Symptoms and symptom proportions in long COVID. A longitudinal study among patients in Wuhan with the original SARS-CoV-2 strain reported symptoms and the changing proportion of symptoms of long COVID at different follow-up time. SARS-CoV-2: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
Fig 2:
Fig. 2
Common symptoms and possible mechanisms of long COVID. POTS: Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; PTSD: Post-traumatic stress disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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