Stock Groups

What you need to know as WHO publishes formal definition

[ad_1]

On June 15, 2021, a man entered the Headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva (Switzerland).

Getty Images| Getty Images

LONDON — The World Health Organization on Wednesday published a definition of long Covid for the first time, seeking to provide much-needed clarity on one of the most mysterious aspects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.N. has called long Covid “post Covid-19” and this is the definition. This name was proposed by WHO’s International Classification of Diseases.

According to the WHO, “Post COVID-19 occurs when there is evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. These symptoms last up to 3 months after the onset COVID-19.

Common symptoms are fatigue, shortness, cognitive dysfunction, and other signs that can impact everyday living. After an initial COVID-19 episode or recovery, symptoms may return. You may experience symptoms that fluctuate, relapse or change over time.

According to the WHO, a different definition could be used for children.

According to the global health agency, it took a while for a formal definition to be established of long Covid due so many symptoms that are linked with this condition.

This has been an issue within the WHO,” said Dr. Mike Ryan on Wednesday. Ryan is the executive director for the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program.

Ryan stated, “We must remain vigilant. This pandemic continues to kill, it continues to infect, and cause more disease.” There are huge problems in developing countries, despite the declining numbers we observe.

Ryan called the long Covid definition “a huge step forward” before adding that the WHO was still understanding the condition and it is likely that this will change.

“An innovative medical problem of the first kind”

Covid-19 is a drug that causes a common symptom, namely a persistent, severe cough, shortness of breath and fever. Most of these symptoms disappear within days to weeks.

Some symptoms might last for longer.

WHO estimates that between 10% and 20% of Covid-19 victims experienced persistent symptoms over several months. This can lead to persistent fatigue, depression, and brain fog.

On September 5, 2021, an Iranian man sat on a bench in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar wearing a mask to protect himself from Covid-19.

AFP | AFP | Getty Images

Long-term management of Covid

The British Medical Journal hosted an online webinarWe met last month to talk about the management, diagnosis and prognosis in long Covid.

Panel members said that the most common symptoms of the condition were “profound tiredness” and skin rashes, pain in the legs, muscle and back aches, and chest heaviness.

“The relapsing and remitting nature of this illness is a very common feature, where it feels like you’ve recovered. Then, it hits you again,” Nisreen Alwan (associate professor in public Health, University of Southampton) said during the panel.

Reflecting on her long battle against Covid, she said that “it’s a continual cycle of failure, not just for you but others around you,”

Paul Garner of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine stated that his battle with the disease has left him feeling “repeatedly battered for the first 2 months”. Garner claimed that his symptoms were less frequent in the following four months but that he felt more tired.

Alwan explained that managing Covid is a process in which you learn about your symptoms.

According to her, it was vital that Covid-19 cases involving long Covid be included in broader statistics. Long Covid is a vast opportunity that can be quantified and measured in the same manner as positive results or deaths.

For example, in the U.K. an estimated 970,000 (or 1.5%) self-reported having long Covid by Aug. 1, according the data compiledThe Office for National Statistics.

The prevalence of the syndrome post-viral was highest in those aged between 35 and 69, women, residents in most deprived areas, workers in social or health care, as well as those who have a disability or other activity-limiting condition.

[ad_2]