The term “long COVID” should be scrapped to avoid unnecessary fear, says Queensland’s Chief Health Officer
The term “long COVID” should be scrapped, according to Queensland’s Chief Health Officer, because it creates unnecessary fear — and is “probably harmful”.
John Gerrard said the description wrongly implied long-term post-COVID viral symptoms were “somehow unique and exceptional” to other viral infections, but new research suggested they were indistinguishable.
The infectious disease physician said a Queensland study of more than 5,000 people found similar rates of functional limitations in the daily lives of people a year after a COVID-19 infection, compared to seasonal flu and other respiratory illnesses.
Research shows long-term symptoms of COVID-19 resemble other viral infections
Queensland researchers compared 2,399 adults who tested positive for COVID-19 with 995 influenza patients, and 1,718 others who reported respiratory symptoms in mid-2022 but were negative for COVID-19 and the flu.
They surveyed the participants a year later, asking about ongoing symptoms and functional impairments using a questionnaire delivered by text message.
After 12 months, 16 per cent of respondents reported ongoing symptoms, regardless of whether they had COVID-19, the flu, or another respiratory infection.
The survey also found three per cent of the COVID-19 patients said they had moderate to severe functional impairment — compared with 4.1 per cent of the non-COVID participants.
Importance of avoiding the term “long COVID” and its potential harm
Given the study results, Dr Gerrard described long COVID as “probably a harmful term”, given its potential to make some people hypervigilant to symptoms in the months after their infection, which could be detrimental to recovery.
However, he stressed he was not questioning the validity of long COVID.
“Post-viral syndromes do occur. We’re absolutely saying that it does exist,” Dr Gerrard said. “We see it with Ross River virus. Clearly, we see it with influenza as well.
“A severe viral infection can be quite a significant inflammatory insult and, in some people, that clearly can cause persistent symptoms. But in the vast majority of people, recovery is the norm.”
Prior Queensland research and the impact of the Omicron variant
The latest study builds on Queensland Health research, published in the British Medical Journal last year, that found no difference between COVID-19 and influenza symptoms three months on from infection.
Dr Gerrard said the risk of so-called long COVID in Queensland was lower during the Omicron waves, compared with other variants, as 90 per cent of the state’s population was vaccinated when Omicron emerged.
Call for more long COVID clinics and research
Mater infectious diseases director Paul Griffin, who was not involved in the study, cautiously welcomed the findings but said much more research was needed to better understand long COVID.
He said the sheer volume of Queenslanders who had been infected with COVID-19 supported the need for public long COVID clinics.
“I do think long COVID clinics would be worthwhile,” he said. “I think investing in some guidelines for how practitioners can help long COVID patients, and then bringing together appropriate expertise into long COVID clinics for those that require it would … be really helpful for those people that are suffering the worst.
“We need to be able to identify who’s at highest risk and ideally, work out ways to prevent it and treat it if people do get it. All of those areas are sadly lacking.”
