Post-Acute Infection Syndromes: Lessons from Long COVID and Long Flu
A special issue of COVID (ISSN 2673-8112). This special issue belongs to the section "COVID Clinical Manifestations and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 20
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Across diverse pathogens (viral, bacterial, parasitic), many survivors develop enduring symptoms—exertion intolerance, debilitating fatigue, neurocognitive issues, dysautonomia, pain, and “flu-like” malaise—with notable convergence across triggers and substantial disability experienced among a subset. Recognizing these common denominators alongside pathogen-specific sequelae can accelerate discovery and clinical progress.
The emergence of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), also known as long COVID, highlights a long-overlooked problem and suggests shared etiologies across post-acute infection syndromes (PAISs). Evidence across pathogens shows overlapping symptom clusters and prevalent chronic disability among a significant minority. However, objective markers and standardized endpoints remain limited, representing key challenges that this Special Issue aims to address.
This Special Issue will focus on post-acute infection syndromes (PAISs)—the “tails” of infectious diseases marked by persistent, multi-system symptoms after the acute phase—using long COVID and post-influenza (“long flu”) as the core examples. We invite mechanistic, translational, clinical, and epidemiologic studies that clarify shared pathways (e.g., antigen persistence, autoimmunity, dysbiosis/reactivation, impaired tissue repair) and trigger-specific features, advance objective measurement, and inform phenotype- or mechanism-guided care.
By combining shared mechanisms with trigger-specific biology, this Special Issue will (i) refine PAIS taxonomy (phenotypes/endotypes), (ii) identify surface reproducible biomarkers, and (iii) catalyze mechanism-guided trials, thus advancing care for long COVID, “long flu”, and related post-infectious conditions.
Dr. Ming Zheng
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- post-acute infection syndromes
- Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC)
- COVID-19
- long COVID
- long flu
- immune dysregulation
- biomarkers
- genomics
- proteomics
- immunomics
- single-cell sequencing
- immune repertoire
- Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS)
- mendelian randomization
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