Over the last few years of the COVID pandemic, there has been an increasing need to define the emerging condition following COVID-19 infection. At present, this is commonly called “long COVID”, but it’s also been referred to as “long-haul COVID”, or termed “post-COVID-19 condition” by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The initial definition of long COVID was “have had COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19, and have experienced or continue to experience symptoms for a duration of at least eight weeks”.
Building on the WHO definition, a publicly-led long COVID definition is as follows: long COVID occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-COV2 infection, with symptoms that last for at least two months, including a negative test, and where symptoms can’t be explained by alternative diagnosis.
Common physiological symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction or “brain fog”, as well as joint pain, muscle aches, hearing issues, eyesight problems, headaches, loss of smell
