2025/02/14 by Shijie Qin, Yanhua Li, Chunxiang Fan +5
Medicine · #Business #COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies #Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 #Respiratory Support and Mechanisms
paper · pdf · doi:10.1360/tb-2024-1076
openalex created_date 2025/02/14 · openalex publication_date 2025/02/14 · crossref created 2025/02/14 · crossref issued 2025/02/17 · crossref published 2025/02/17 · crossref published-online 2025/02/17 · crossref published-print 2025/05/01 · crossref deposited 2025/10/11 · crossref indexed 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
<sec><p indent="0mm">The monitoring data showed that the infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues and its long-term post-infection effect (long COVID) still affects people’s health and lives. The medical definition of long COVID should be termed as post-COVID-19 syndrome or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It refers to the condition where individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 continue to experience some symptoms (including persistent, recurrent, or new-onset) after the acute infection phase, and these symptoms cannot be explained by other causes. The latest definition also posits that long COVID is a chronic disease related to infection, occurring after SARS-CoV-2 infection, lasting for at least <sc>3 months,</sc> and manifesting as a persistent, recurrent, and remitting or progressive disease state affecting one or more organ systems. Long COVID is currently a topic of concern and difficulty in the fields of public health and basic research. </sec><sec> Since the end of 2022, many Chinese residents experienced widespread SARS-CoV-2 infection, but awareness and attention to the long COVID still need to be improved. This article reviews the basic facts, evidence, and underlying mechanisms or hypotheses of long COVID, so as to provide a comprehensive understanding for the general public, clinicians, and researchers, and promote the research and development of prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment programs for long COVID. Specifically, we reviewed the definition and origin of long COVID, and summarized the common symptoms of long COVID in various organ systems of the human body, as well as the current limited and pending detection methods and treatments. We also listed contributing factors that may affect long COVID, such as age, gender, underlying disease, COVID-19 vaccine, SARS-CoV-2 sub-variants, repeated infection, smoking and drinking habits, etc. In addition, we summarized the pathogenesis mechanisms or hypotheses that may drive long COVID, including the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 (RNA or protein), SARS-CoV-2-induced long-term immune response or autoantibody disorder, mitochondrial dysfunction, vascular endothelial injury and coagulation disorders, human microbiota disorders, latent virus reactivation, hormone or neurotransmitter disorders. Overall, the pathogenic mechanisms of long COVID are highly complex, and the underlying mechanisms of different symptoms may vary or interact with each other. </sec><sec> Finally, we also summarized the current status of long COVID-19 in China, and proposed possible problems and prospects for the future. The main tasks may include timely tracking and updating epidemiological knowledge of long COVID, establishing large-scale disease early warning and monitoring systems based on the internet and artificial intelligence, designing more prospective studies targeting the pathogenic mechanisms or interventions for long COVID, exploring the pathogenic mechanisms or biomarkers of long COVID by leveraging animal disease models, cell models, and novel technological approaches. In addition, the field of public health needs to strengthen self-assessment and monitoring for long COVID patients to ensure timely detection of the condition and access to effective treatment. This requires enhancing public science education to raise awareness and understanding of long COVID. Long-term symptoms may also lead to reduced work capacity, thereby impacting personal income and the labor market. Therefore, it is necessary to implement corresponding measures to support affected individuals and enterprises in overcoming these challenges. On the whole, long COVID is an important scientific issue worthy of continuous attention and research. In order to face this common challenge, countries need to strengthen cooperation and sharing in drug development and strategies for long COVID, so as to ensure that people around the world can get timely diagnosis and treatment and jointly build a community of human health. </sec>