Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management

Antoni Sisó-Almirall, Pilar Brito-Zerón, Laura Conangla Ferrín, Belchin Kostov, Anna Moragas Moreno, Jordi Mestres, Jaume Sellarès, Gisela Galindo, Ramon Morera, Josep Basora, Antoni Trilla, Manuel Ramos-Casals and on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group
Additional contact information
Antoni Sisó-Almirall: Permanent Board of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (CAMFiC), 08009 Barcelona, Spain
Pilar Brito-Zerón: Laboratory of Autoimmune Diseases Josep Font, IDIBAPS-CELLEX, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Laura Conangla Ferrín: Permanent Board of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (CAMFiC), 08009 Barcelona, Spain
Belchin Kostov: Primary Care Centre Les Corts, Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Anna Moragas Moreno: Jaume I Health Centre, Institut Català de la Salut, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43005 Tarragona, Spain
Jordi Mestres: Permanent Board of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (CAMFiC), 08009 Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Sellarès: College of Catalan Physicians, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Gisela Galindo: Permanent Board of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), 08009 Barcelona, Spain
Ramon Morera: Board of Spanish Society of Managers of Primary Care (SEDAP), 28026 Madrid, Spain
Josep Basora: IDIAP Jordi Gol, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Antoni Trilla: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Manuel Ramos-Casals: Laboratory of Autoimmune Diseases Josep Font, IDIBAPS-CELLEX, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group: ANNEX. Members of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group: Alarcón Belmonte I; Also Fontanet A; Barrot de la Fuente J; Brotons Cuixart C; Burdoy Joaquin E; Caballol Angelats R; Cabré Vila JJ; Cantero Gómez FX; Carbonell Abella C; Carrillo Muñoz R; Casasa Plana A; Copetti Fanlo S; Cots Yago JM; Deniel Rosanas J; Díez-Cascón P; Ferrer-Vidal Cortella D; Fernández Pérez J; Franch Nadal J; Guirado Vila P; Hoyo J; Lozano Fernández JJ; Limón Ramírez E; Llor Vila C; Martin Luján F; Martin Álvarez R; Mas Heredia M; Mascort Roca J; Montero Alia JJ; Moreno Escrivà S; Ortega Vila Y; Perelló Bratescu A; Sans Corrales M; Sequeira Aymar E; Serrano Manzano M; Serrano-Pons J; Solà Gonfaus M; Solanes Cabús M; Veganzones Guanyabens I; Vilaseca Llobet JM; Villafàfila Ferrero R; Vinyoles Bargalló E.

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: Long COVID-19 may be defined as patients who, four weeks after the diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2 infection, continue to have signs and symptoms not explainable by other causes. The estimated frequency is around 10% and signs and symptoms may last for months. The main long-term manifestations observed in other coronaviruses (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)) are very similar to and have clear clinical parallels with SARS-CoV-2: mainly respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric. The growing number of patients worldwide will have an impact on health systems. Therefore, the main objective of these clinical practice guidelines is to identify patients with signs and symptoms of long COVID-19 in primary care through a protocolized diagnostic process that studies possible etiologies and establishes an accurate differential diagnosis. The guidelines have been developed pragmatically by compiling the few studies published so far on long COVID-19, editorials and expert opinions, press releases, and the authors’ clinical experience. Patients with long COVID-19 should be managed using structured primary care visits based on the time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Based on the current limited evidence, disease management of long COVID-19 signs and symptoms will require a holistic, longitudinal follow up in primary care, multidisciplinary rehabilitation services, and the empowerment of affected patient groups.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; primary care; long COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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