Long COVID Through a Public Health Lens: An Umbrella Review

Abstract

Objectives: To synthesize existing evidence on prevalence as well as clinical and socio-economic aspects of Long COVID.Methods: An umbrella review of reviews and a targeted evidence synthesis of their primary studies, including searches in four electronic databases, reference lists of included reviews, as well as related article lists of relevant publications.Results: Synthesis included 23 reviews and 102 primary studies. Prevalence estimates ranged from 7.5% to 41% in non-hospitalized adults, 2.3%–53% in mixed adult samples, 37.6% in hospitalized adults, and 2%–3.5% in primarily non-hospitalized children. Preliminary evidence suggests that female sex, age, comorbidities, the severity of acute disease, and obesity are associated with Long COVID. Almost 50% of primary studies reported some degree of Long COVID-related social and family-life impairment, long absence periods off work, adjusted workloads, and loss of employment.Conclusion: Long COVID will likely have a substantial public health impact. Current evidence is still heterogeneous and incomplete. To fully understand Long COVID, well-designed prospective studies with representative samples will be essential.

Long-Term Health Symptoms and Sequelae Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection: An Evidence Map

“…However, this might limit the inclusion of studies on subpopulations, including socially vulnerable individuals. Another approach used by others was to collate the findings of existing reviews, which allows one to summarise the findings of a larger evidence base [ 32 ]. This approach, however, relies on multiple low-quality systematic reviews, which usually fail on the definition of their methods (protocol), the rigour of their search, and the ambiguity in their inclusion criteria.…”

Welche Behandlungsoptionen wurden von COVID-19-infizierten Yogaübenden als hilfreich empfunden? Ergebnisse einer Querschnittsanalyse

“…Wie häufig es zu Long- bzw. Post-Covid-Verläufen kommt, ist unklar; über alle Infektionsfälle hinweg können es bis zu 20% sein, bei stationär Behandelten bis zu 76% [ 10 , 11 ]. In Deutschland wurde bei hospitalisierten Patienten eine Post-Covid-Prävalenz von 73% beschrieben und bei nicht-hospitalisierten Patienten von 46% [ 12 ].…”

Hydroxytyrosol Recovers SARS-CoV-2-PLpro-Dependent Impairment of Interferon Related Genes in Polarized Human Airway, Intestinal and Liver Epithelial Cells

“…This syndrome is known as long-COVID. The World Health Organization (WHO) and global experts went to work to investigate and define the health challenges and implications of the long-COVID condition [ 14 , 15 ]. Lines of evidence suggest that systemic and chronic tissue inflammation, autoimmunity and viral protein/RNA persistence might contribute to the pathogenesis of long-COVID [ 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) and global experts went to work to investigate and define the health challenges and implications of the long-COVID condition [ 14 , 15 ]. Lines of evidence suggest that systemic and chronic tissue inflammation, autoimmunity and viral protein/RNA persistence might contribute to the pathogenesis of long-COVID [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. PLpro, which is implicated in post-translational modifications of host proteins, thus eliciting the release of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) and the consequent exaggerated secretion of multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, could be one of the viral antigens persisting in long-COVID [ 17 ].…”

“…Moreover, in this scenario, increased oxidative stress seems to play a crucial pathogenetic role [ 18 ]. Therefore, a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drugs could be protective factors that may reduce long-COVID symptoms and its public health implications [ 15 ].…”