Sat 09 October 2021:
Long covid has been given an official clinical definition by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The United Nations body released its definition of what it calls “post COVID-19 condition” on Wednesday, flagging that it typically occurs three months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least two months and “cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.”
“Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction, but also others which generally have an impact on everyday functioning. Symptoms may be new-onset, following the initial recovery from the acute episode, or persist from the initial illness. And then symptoms can also fluctuate or relapse over time,” Dr Janet Diaz, Head of Clinical Management, World Health Organisation, explained.
She added that the clinical definition is “an important step forward to standardise the recognition of patients living with the post-COVID-19 condition.”
“We hope it will help clinicians and health workers recognise patients and start them on appropriate treatments and interventions and care pathways. We hope that policymakers and health systems will set up and implement integrated care models to care for these patients.”
The WHO stressed its release that the definition may change as new evidence emerges “and our understanding of the consequences of COVID-19 continues to evolve.”
More than one million people in the UK reported suffering from long COVID in September.
That’s according to the Office for National Statistics which says this figure reflects the increase of COVID-19 infection rates in July.
People who work in health care, social care, and hospitality were the hardest hit in the UK last September.
According to a recent study, one out of every three persons will experience post-covid symptoms for three to six months.
_____________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
