Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management

Sisó-Almirall, Antoni; Brito-Zerón, Pilar; Conangla Ferrín, Laura; Kostov, Belchin; Moragas Moreno, Anna; Mestres, Jordi; Sellarès, Jaume; Galindo, Gisela; Morera, Ramon; Basora, Josep; Trilla, Antoni; Ramos-Casals, Manuel; on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group,

doi:10.3390/ijerph18084350

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Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management

Antoni Sisó-Almirall

^1,2,3,*,

Pilar Brito-Zerón

^4,5,6,

Laura Conangla Ferrín

^2,3,7,

⁸

¹,

⁹,

¹⁰,

¹¹,

¹²,

¹³,

^4,6

and on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group^†

Permanent Board of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (CAMFiC), 08009 Barcelona, Spain

Primary Care Centre Les Corts, Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Primary Healthcare Transversal Research Group, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain

⁴

Laboratory of Autoimmune Diseases Josep Font, IDIBAPS-CELLEX, 08036 Barcelona, Spain

⁵

Autoimmune Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, Hospital CIMA-Sanitas, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

⁶

Department of Autoimmune Diseases, ICMiD, Hospital Clínic, 08036 Barcelona, Spain

⁷

Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain

⁸

Jaume I Health Centre, Institut Català de la Salut, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43005 Tarragona, Spain

⁹

College of Catalan Physicians, 08017 Barcelona, Spain

¹⁰

Permanent Board of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), 08009 Barcelona, Spain

¹¹

Board of Spanish Society of Managers of Primary Care (SEDAP), 28026 Madrid, Spain

¹²

IDIAP Jordi Gol, 08007 Barcelona, Spain

¹³

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain

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^†

ANNEX. Members of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group: Alarcón Belmonte I; Also Fontanet A; Barrot de la Fuente J; Brotons Cuixart C; Burdoy Joaquin E; Caballol Angelats R; Cabré Vila JJ; Cantero Gómez FX; Carbonell Abella C; Carrillo Muñoz R; Casasa Plana A; Copetti Fanlo S; Cots Yago JM; Deniel Rosanas J; Díez-Cascón P; Ferrer-Vidal Cortella D; Fernández Pérez J; Franch Nadal J; Guirado Vila P; Hoyo J; Lozano Fernández JJ; Limón Ramírez E; Llor Vila C; Martin Luján F; Martin Álvarez R; Mas Heredia M; Mascort Roca J; Montero Alia JJ; Moreno Escrivà S; Ortega Vila Y; Perelló Bratescu A; Sans Corrales M; Sequeira Aymar E; Serrano Manzano M; Serrano-Pons J; Solà Gonfaus M; Solanes Cabús M; Veganzones Guanyabens I; Vilaseca Llobet JM; Villafàfila Ferrero R; Vinyoles Bargalló E.

Academic Editor: Joan Puig-Barberà

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4350; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084350

Received: 19 February 2021 / Revised: 2 April 2021 / Accepted: 16 April 2021 / Published: 20 April 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Primary Healthcare)

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Abstract

Long COVID-19 may be defined as patients who, four weeks after the diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2 infection, continue to have signs and symptoms not explainable by other causes. The estimated frequency is around 10% and signs and symptoms may last for months. The main long-term manifestations observed in other coronaviruses (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)) are very similar to and have clear clinical parallels with SARS-CoV-2: mainly respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric. The growing number of patients worldwide will have an impact on health systems. Therefore, the main objective of these clinical practice guidelines is to identify patients with signs and symptoms of long COVID-19 in primary care through a protocolized diagnostic process that studies possible etiologies and establishes an accurate differential diagnosis. The guidelines have been developed pragmatically by compiling the few studies published so far on long COVID-19, editorials and expert opinions, press releases, and the authors’ clinical experience. Patients with long COVID-19 should be managed using structured primary care visits based on the time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Based on the current limited evidence, disease management of long COVID-19 signs and symptoms will require a holistic, longitudinal follow up in primary care, multidisciplinary rehabilitation services, and the empowerment of affected patient groups. View Full-Text

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; primary care; long COVID-19

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Sisó-Almirall, A.; Brito-Zerón, P.; Conangla Ferrín, L.; Kostov, B.; Moragas Moreno, A.; Mestres, J.; Sellarès, J.; Galindo, G.; Morera, R.; Basora, J.; Trilla, A.; Ramos-Casals, M.; on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group. Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 4350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084350

AMA Style

Sisó-Almirall A, Brito-Zerón P, Conangla Ferrín L, Kostov B, Moragas Moreno A, Mestres J, Sellarès J, Galindo G, Morera R, Basora J, Trilla A, Ramos-Casals M, on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group. Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(8):4350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084350

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sisó-Almirall, Antoni, Pilar Brito-Zerón, Laura Conangla Ferrín, Belchin Kostov, Anna Moragas Moreno, Jordi Mestres, Jaume Sellarès, Gisela Galindo, Ramon Morera, Josep Basora, Antoni Trilla, Manuel Ramos-Casals, and on behalf of the CAMFiC long COVID-19 Study Group. 2021. "Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 8: 4350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084350

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