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The Importance of Including Long COVID Outcomes When Developing Novel Treatments for Acute COVID-19

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Amid efforts to develop effective treatments for acute COVID-19, there is growing recognition of the need to address long COVID as a key outcome measure. We argue there are 7 compelling reasons to include long COVID measurements in clincal trials investigating acute COVID-19 treatments: (1) Long COVID is not rare. (2) Long COVID is debilitating to individuals and has a high societal cost. (3) Those at high risk of severe COVID-19 are also at higher risk of developing long COVID if they are infected with COVID-19. (4) Treatments for acute COVID-19 may reduce the risk of long COVID. (5) Measures exist to track long COVID. (6) Long COVID considerations are potentially important for acute COVID-19 treatment decision making. (7) Deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are increasingly rare. While not every trial needs to include assessments of long COVID, it is worth the research burden to include assessments where possible, as this could facilitate the uptake of acute COVID-19 treatments that lessen the societal burden of long COVID.

Source: The Journal of Infectious Diseases

DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiae270

Authors: Chloe Connor, Holly A Taylor

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Language: English

Topic: Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

Subfield: Clinical Neurology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institutes of Health