“The impact of Long Covid on the state of health is proving to be significant from the point of view of the National Health Service, with the risk of new hospitalization or medical visits doubling in those who have had the infection and over 4,700 deaths estimated precisely due to the months-long effects of the acute infection”. This was reported by the Higher Institute of Health (ISS), explaining that this problem will be discussed tomorrow, Wednesday 22 May, during a conference promoted in occasion of the closing of the Ministry of Health project, coordinated by the ISS, ‘Analysis and response strategies to the long-term effects of the Covid-19 (Long Covid) infection’.
“It is important – states Graziano Onder, coordinator of the project – to increase knowledge and standardize the approach to the treatment of Long Covid, ensure strong cohesion between all stakeholders, collect local experiences and promote the use of common languages and tools in responding to and combating the pandemic, in consideration of the significant number of people affected by Covid-19 who present, weeks and months after the end of the acute infection, a heterogeneous complex of subacute and chronic clinical manifestations which preclude a full return to the previous state of health”.
Hospitalizations and deaths
According to recent studies, up to 45% of those who survive a Sars-CoV-2 infection have experience at least one unresolved symptom after 4 months, with a higher prevalence in those who have been hospitalized. The dimensions of the Long Covid phenomenon were evaluated in patients resident in the regions of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tuscany and Puglia out of over 7 million patients. The results showed that, in those who contracted Covid, the number of new hospital admissions and medical visits in the 6 months following the infection doubled as a consequence of Long Covid and the number of diagnostic services tripled. Furthermore, according to data processed jointly by ISS and Istat, also presented at the conference, 4,752 deaths associated with this condition were recorded in 2020 and 2021.
The ministry’s project, which began in December 2021, is coordinated by Onder and involves Ars Toscana, Aress Puglia, the Friuli Centrale University Health Authority, the Irccs of the Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation Network, the Aging Network and the Cardiology Network, and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. Purpose of the conference: to present the results of the project, divided into various activities including the definition of the clinical spectrum and dimensions of the Long Covid problem, the production of clinical recommendations for the care of patients with post-virus syndrome, the dissemination of information and training on the topic, and the definition of a national network of clinical assistance centers.
The results of a census of clinical centers for Long Covid assistance on the national territory are also available on the ISS website, which collected information on the numbers, characteristics and distribution of these centers, but also on the type of assistance provided and the organization of services, showing that the majority have multidisciplinary skills, good integration with primary care and use of multidimensional technologies and tools. The list of centers active on the Long Covid front is available on the Institute’s website (https://www.iss.it/longcovid-mappa-dei-centri-regionali) and is updated in January 2024. The dissemination and training also included 3 webinars and a Fad (Distance Learning) course on the new clinical scenario represented by Long Covid, in which over 14,000 participants took part.
#Long #Covid #hospitalization #risk #doubles #data #estimated #deaths
