Article

Post-COVID-19 Effects

Publish date: November 8, 2022

Millions of Americans have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 93.2 million cases as of August 19, 2022.¹ Many of these individuals are experiencing long-term effects after infection with the COVID-19 virus, and various disparities are affecting access to care. Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome is defined as symptoms that persist 4 weeks after the onset of symptoms from COVID-19 infection. Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory infection, the long-term effects have been seen in various organ systems. The effects of this condition reach beyond physical health, taking a toll on a patient’s economic and psychological well-being. Different racial/ethnic and economic factors also influence likelihood of illness and disease outcomes. Physicians must remain aware of the long-term role these factors will continue to play in patient outcomes.

Apart from the physical effects of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, economic and psychological consequences are profound.⁶
Effects of Income, Race/Ethnicity, and Underlying Conditions on Post-COVID-19 Outcomes⁷
Social and economic disparities further affect access to care for those suffering from post-acute COVID-19.⁷

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID data tracker. Updated August 19, 2022. Accessed August 22, 2022. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker
Nalbandian A, Sehgal K, Gupta A, et al. Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Nat Med. 2021;27(4):601-615. doi:10.1038/s41591-021-01283-z
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long COVID or post-COVID conditions. Updated May 5, 2022. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-termeffects/index.html
Ghazanfar H, Kandhi S, Shin D, et al. Impact of COVID-19 on the gastrointestinal tract: a clinical review. Cureus. 2022;14(3):e23333. doi:10.7759/cureus.23333
Khan SM, Shilen A, Heslin KM, et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent changes in the menstrual cycle among participants in the Arizona CoVHORT study. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022;226(2):270-273. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2021.09.016
Chopra V, Flanders SA, O’Malley M, Malani AN, Prescott HC. Sixty-day outcomes among patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Ann Intern Med. 2021;174(4):576-578. doi:10.7326/M20-5661
Jiang DH, McCoy RG. Planning for the post-COVID syndrome: how payers can mitigate long-term complications of the pandemic. J Gen Intern Med. 2020;35(10):3036-3039. doi:10.1007/s11606-020-06042-3

CDC warns of early uptick in respiratory disease

Post-COVID-19 Effects

References

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