Abstract

Many patients report persistent symptoms after resolution of acute COVID-19, regardless of SARS-CoV-2 variant and even if the initial illness is mild [1, 2]. A multitude of symptoms have been described under the umbrella term “long COVID”, otherwise known as “post-COVID syndrome” or “post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC)”; for simplicity we will use the term long COVID. Symptoms are diverse but include breathlessness, fatigue and brain fog, reported to affect up to 69% of cases [3]. Long COVID can be debilitating, with 45.2% of patients requiring a reduced work schedule [4]. The World Health Organization estimates that 17 million people in Europe experienced long COVID during the first 2 years of the pandemic [5].