Long COVID: What We Know and What We’re Still Learning

As COVID-19 outbreaks continue to erupt in pockets across the nation and world, an unfortunate subset of patients continues to exhibit persistent debilitating symptoms months after their initial infection. These are collectively known as “long COVID” sufferers.

Kenneth Scheppke, MD, FAEMS, deputy secretary for health for the state of Florida, presented a brief session on long COVID during the First There First Care and Gathering of Eagles conference Thursday morning, June 16, 2022 in Hollywood, Florida.

Disease outbreaks are managed in 2 ways, Scheppke explained—prevention and treatment. While the health care community galvanized to become early leaders in prevention of COVID spread, the treatment of active COVID cases was often overlooked, he said.

Patients with long COVID exhibit severe fatigue, joint pains, noncardiac chest pain, trouble breathing, and especially brain fog weeks, months, and sometimes years after their initial infection subsides. Symptoms can be debilitating and affect a person’s capacity to work and live independently,

According to Scheppke, researchers and care providers are still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on with long COVID syndrome. Could it be a persistent low-grade infection the patient’s system has never cleared? Is it an abnormal immune response? Something else?

While much still has to be studied and learned, some early hope may be on the horizon for people suffering with this syndrome. Scheppke presented details of 3 case studies of previously healthy patients who experienced persistent debilitating symptoms and heightened “misery index” scores months after infection. It affected their ability to work and complete normal activities of daily living.

In all 3 cases monoclonal antibody treatments returned the patients’ misery index scores close to pre-COVID baselines.

These cases are anecdotal and this is not a call for monoclonal antibody treatment for long COVID, Scheppke stressed, but further clinical study is needed.

“This is something we all need to keep an eye on,” he said.