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Long COVID has quickly emerged as a global health challenge, and we continue to investigate the effects from the plethora of symptoms surrounding the condition. The prevalence of Long COVID varies across the globe, from 31% in North America, 44% in Europe, to 51% in Asia.1
Clinicians and researchers around the world are working to better understand the effects of Long COVID. Although there have been close to 600 clinical trials including Long COVID,2 the underlying biological mechanisms affecting Long COVID symptoms are mostly unknown.
People with Long COVID have reported over 200 symptoms, with dyspnea and fatigue consistently being noted most frequently. Vaes et al3 described that the majority of people with Long COVID reported unusual dyspnea and fatigue up to 6 months after the onset of COVID-related symptoms. As a result, 83% of the subjects reported moderate-to-poor health, and almost half (49%) indicated they still experienced moderate-to-severe functional limitations.3 Another study showed that up to 12 months after hospitalization from COVID-19 53% of the subjects still reported unusual dyspnea, and 60% were experiencing fatigue.4 It’s well established that many of these patients with Long COVID will need continued treatment after their COVID-19 diagnosis, and rehabilitation has shown promise for ameliorating the negative effects of Long COVID.
In this issue of Respiratory Care, Asimakos et al5 studied the impact of a supervised rehabilitation program on people with Long COVID. The authors used a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program including supervised aerobic exercise and resistance training, education, …
Correspondence: Dave M Burnett PhD RRT, University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Respiratory Care and Diagnostic Science, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Mail stop 1013, Kansas City KS 66160. E-mail: dburnett{at}kumc.edu
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