Long-COVID syndrome and the lung.

Abstract

There has been a degree of reticence among senior leadership in health organizations worldwide about recognizing the significance and magnitude of the long-COVID syndrome. There is a reason it is called the ‘Long-COVID Syndrome’, and it is not going away any time soon. On 3rd April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK reported on the latest expanding number of long-COVID cases—1.3 million individuals exhibiting symptoms >3 months of which 790 000 exhibiting debilitating symptoms > 1 year.1 There are two main symptom clusters related to the brain and the lung. Prolonged lung-related symptoms are more prevalent in patients admitted to the hospital with acute COVID infection. In this issue of the Journal, we welcome the Commentary piece by Dr Mitchell and colleagues from Trinity College Dublin in which they discuss the long-COVID syndrome and the lung and ask the question how long will it last?. In truth, we do not know—2-year follow-up data from acute cases earlier in the pandemic suggest a significant persistence of a restrictive lung defect particularly in those admitted to hospital with moderate/severe acute COVID infection.