To better understand and manage “long COVID”, physicians must first be able to define the condition – so far impossible with no set parameters or qualifications. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recently moved to rectify that problem as a committee of experts created a consensus definition.
“It was important to get a consistent definition that was inclusive for people to better deal with the implications of long COVID,” said San Antonio rehabilitation specialist Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD, who sat on the committee. She also chairs of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine.
NASEM’s new definition states that “long COVID is an infection-associated chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least three months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems.”
The definition also comes with helpful parameters that cover five major areas. According to NASEM, long COVID:
- Can follow SARS-CoV-2 infections of any severity, including those that are asymptomatic. Laboratory confirmation or other proof of initial SARS-CoV-2 infection is not required if it was not available.
- Must be present for at least three months.
- May accompany more than 200 symptoms and conditions, including the exacerbation of preexisting conditions. These can range from mild to severe.
- Can affect anyone, regardless of race, sex, gender, socioeconomic status, or other factors.
- Can profoundly affect a person’s ability to function and practice self-care.
“This is what we want clinicians to start thinking about and start using when they’re diagnosing long COVID,” Dr. Verduzco-Gutierrez said. “We hope that the practical implications for the patient are continued [medical] workup, continued symptom management, [and] continued treatment of the condition.”
Long COVID can impair someone’s ability to work or go to school or take care of his family, necessitating accommodations that clinicians can help them get, she said. The definition also has implications for insurance coverage.
“It’s a diagnosable condition now that can be covered for diagnostic testing that someone might need – or coverage of therapies or treatments tied to long COVID,” Dr. Verduzco-Gutierrez said.
NASEM plans to revisit the definition in three years after more data has accumulated. The definition is designed to give medical researchers a place to start, not to keep them from investigating long COVID.
With this definition “researchers can set up their own criteria,” she said. “This is a disease state that can affect organ systems, and we do need more research and treatments for these patients.”
Get more news via TMA’s COVID-19 resources and the Texas Department of State Health Services’ respiratory surveillance report.