An excellent guide for managing Long COVID in Primary Care.
Insights from clinicians on the definition, prevalence, and management of long COVID. Covering a range of topics from diagnosis to rehabilitation, it emphasizes the importance of a holistic, multidisciplinary approach in understanding and treating this complex condition.
Key Points:
- Long COVID is characterized by persistent symptoms for more than 12 weeks after acute infection, affecting up to one in three patients.
- Clinicians must exclude alternative diagnoses through thorough assessments before considering referral to long COVID clinics.
- Red-flag symptoms, cardiovascular and respiratory complications, and neurological issues must be actively considered in diagnosis.
- Rehabilitation and recovery barriers include stress, poor sleep, and menstrual hormone imbalance, requiring a tailored multidisciplinary approach.
- The article shares insights from a specific long COVID clinic’s experiences, highlighting the importance of collaboration and holistic care.
In the absence of a recommended pathway for long COVID, we hope that sharing our experiences of setting up a specialist clinic to deliver holistic care will support the establishment and development of long COVID services..
Long Covid The Answers
Source:
https://www.medscape.co.uk/viewarticle/draw-expert-opinion-optimise-care-long-covid-2022a1001lla
Cite: Draw on Expert Opinion to Optimise Care for Long COVID – Medscape – 22 June 2022.
| Useful Resources |
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| HCT website—www.hct.nhs.uk WHO: Support for rehabilitation: self-management after COVID-19-related illness—adobe.ly/3MHkeuo SOM: COVID-19 return to work guide—som.org.uk NHS England website: Your COVID recovery—www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk Chaudhry A, Master H: Top tips: managing long COVID—GinP.co.uk/455742.article Newson L, Glynne S: Long COVID and female hormones—bit.ly/3MyXX2a Newson Health Menopause Society: HRT easy prescribing guide—bit.ly/3yJjf9b Glynne S, Ellice-Flint E: Long covid, diet and hormones—bit.ly/3yWSrlX PoTS UK website—www.potsuk.org Physios for ME website: COVID-19: post viral fatigue syndrome, long COVID & myalgic encephalomyelitis—www.physiosforme.com/covid-19 RCOT website: How to conserve your energy—www.rcot.co.uk/conserving-energy HCT=Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust; WHO=World Health Organization; SOM=The Society of Occupational Medicine; HRT=hormone-replacement therapy; PoTS=postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; ME=myalgic encephalomyelitis; RCOT=Royal College of Occupational Therapists |