Experts will begin to draw recommendations for long covid

“What we are going to try, the day after the conference, is to bring together an even smaller group with foreign colleagues who will be here (…) in a small committee to see if we can create some ‘guidelines’ about this situation”, Rheumatologist Jaime Branco, one of the organizers of the international meeting that will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of April, in Lisbon, told the Lusa agency.

The specialist recalled that there is no specific test that diagnoses this condition, explaining that this happens by excluding parts: “It is an eminently clinical diagnosis, ruling out other situations or diseases that could cause the same symptoms”.

He highlighted that the relationship between infections and conditions such as chronic fatigue, mental confusion and difficulty concentrating has existed for a long time, but “has been overlooked”.

Jaime Branco acknowledged that the covid-19 pandemic, which infected millions of people, also ended up increasing the number of patients who remain with symptoms that are now included in the so-called post-covid-19 condition.

In 2022, the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) published a standard to define guidelines for diagnosis and clinical approach to the post-covid-19 condition, which can interfere with the quality of life and functional capacity of affected people.

Also known as long covid, the post-covid-19 condition is defined by the spectrum of symptoms that occur in people with probable or confirmed infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, usually three months after the beginning of the acute phase of the infection and with at least least two months in duration.

Among the most frequent symptoms in the post-covid-19 condition are, according to this standard, fatigue, dyspnea (shortness of breath), changes in smell and taste, depression and anxiety and cognitive dysfunction.

To Lusa, Jaime Branco acknowledged that he has patients with physical and cognitive disabilities: “they present changes in memory, attention, concentration, which are very disabling.”

Regarding the need for a possible national program to respond to these people, he said that “it depends on the number of pandemics we have”.

“What is expected is that they may now occur again, not as frequently as we fortunately had before, but, unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, more frequently,” he stated.

If this happens – he continued – “the number of people who will develop this type of post-viral disease (…) will certainly increase”.

“Right now we have this problem and we must take advantage of it to learn from it and to be prepared, not only to help these patients, but also to be able to better help future cases”, he added.

The first international conference on long-covid and its relationship with diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome will take place on the 3rd and 4th of April, at the Luso-American Development Foundation, in Lisbon.

The meeting aims to increase visibility, clarify concepts, promote understanding and stimulate discussion among health professionals, researchers, policy makers, patients and community representatives about clinical manifestations, their management, therapeutic options and health challenges linked to myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long covid’.

The organizers recall that the incidence of myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome continues to increase globally, especially in the aftermath of severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and ‘long covid’, highlighting the need for diagnosis and appropriate treatment.