Rapporto ISS COVID-19 n. 15/2021 English version - Interim guidance on Long-COVID management principles. Version of July 1, 2021.

Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Interim guidance on Long-COVID management principles. Version of July 1, 2021.
Graziano Onder, Marco Floridia, Marina Giuliano, Cinzia Lo Noce, Dorina Tiple, Luigi Bertinato, Rosanna Mariniello, Maria Grazia Laganà, Antonio Della Vecchia, Roberta Gianferro, Angela De Feo, Pierluigi Cosenza, Tiziana Di Corcia, Gianfranco Gensini, Ernesto Palummeri, Cristina Frabetti, Stefano Aliberti, Andrea Campana, Angelo Carfì, Francesco Landi, Alessandro Rossi, Antonio Cherubini, Antonio Uccelli, Emanuela Barisione, Luana Benedetti, Alessandro Bartoloni, Paolo Bonfanti, Marta Carlesimo, Giovanni Guaraldi, Jovana Milic, Salvatore Leonardi, Nicola Petrosillo, Paolo Tarsia
2021, iii, 27 p. Rapporto ISS COVID-19 n. 15/2021 - English version

More than one year into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it has become clear that, for a considerable proportion of individuals affected by COVID-19, significant clinical manifestations may persist after the first weeks of the acute symptomatic phase, with a heterogeneous complex of subacute and chronic symptoms that preclude a full return to the previous state of health. This persistence of symptoms, which may affect patients of any age and with varying degrees of severity of the acute disease, has been recognized as a specific clinical entity, called Long-COVID. Although the breadth of the symptomatology represents a challenge in terms of clinical definition and epidemiology, this condition has a significant clinical impact. The management of Long-COVID requires special measures and funding and dedicated diagnostic and care programs, based on a multidisciplinary approach. This document summarizes the current framework of this new condition and provides general principles for its management, in line with the recommendations issued by the World Health Organization.