Kim Wistedt | 14 March 2025
It has now been 5 years since the rise of COVID-19. 778 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to The World Health Organisation, but the total number of cases must be staggering as testing wasn’t developed in the first years of the pandemic and has also declined over time.
COVID-19 is still widely spread globally, and people continue to die or become seriously ill from the infection, especially the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions or disabilities. Most people only experience a relatively mild infection that doesn’t require hospitalization or specialist treatment. However, another serious threat to public health has emerged: even a relatively mild case of COVID-19 can lead to serious long-term effects, commonly known as Post-COVID condition (PCC) or Long COVID.
PCC has become not only a parallel pandemic, but also the most mass-debilitating event of the modern era. Globally, over 400 million people have experienced Post-COVID condition so far, according to The WHO.
I am one of them. After a confirmed COVID-19 infection in early 2022, I never fully recovered and was diagnosed with PCC in late spring that year and have been on sick-leave of varying degrees (sometimes full-time- but mostly partial leave) since then. Like many others with PCC, I have numerous debilitating symptoms.
Not-so-fun facts about post-COVID condition (as far as we know now)
As of 2024, it is estimated that 6-7 % of adults and 1% of children infected by COVID-19 have developed Post-COVID condition, with medium- to long-term effects on one or more organs in the body. Earlier estimates were higher, 10-20% of the infected, so earlier strains of the virus were more severe and had a higher risk of leading to PCC.
Anyone infected with COVID-19 can develop PCC. Risk factors increase with age and pre-existing conditions and disabilities. Women are also more likely to develop PCC than men. Additionally, a severe COVID-19 infection or repeated infections increase the risk. COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk and severity of the infection in most people, but not all. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. face masks, improved ventilation, hygienic measures) also reduce the risk of infection and consequently reduce the risk of PCC.
Post-COVID condition is an umbrella diagnostic term for multi-system serious long-term effects on the body after a COVID-19 infection. Most organs can be affected or damaged, including the heart and blood vessels, lungs, nervous system, immune system, gastrointestinal system, endocrine (hormone) and reproductive systems. Researchers have found evidence of persistence of SARS-CoV2 in the body, of autoimmunity and altered immune responses, and of formation of microscopic blood clots as possible causes of PCC.
More than two hundred symptoms and complications have been reported, and common symptoms include fatigue, brain-fog and other cognitive problems, headaches, aches and pain or weakness in muscles and joints, long-term fevers, breathlessness, dizziness, intestinal problems, and loss of taste and smell. Symptoms often occur in clusters and can vary in intensity, and new symptoms can emerge. Over time these symptoms are often debilitating.
Other medical and chronic conditions can occur more frequently after a COVID-19 infection, such as kidney impairment, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, asthma, cognitive dysfunction and mental health disorders, and symptoms of Post-exertional malaise (PEM/PESE), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue syndrome(ME/CFS) and Postural Tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
Sleep disorders, depression and anxiety can be symptoms of PCC itself, but also secondary symptoms due to the health problems and impaired quality of life.
There is no treatment for PCC yet, so treatments focusses on alleviating specific symptoms, but possible treatments are beginning to emerge and are being tested, e.g. antivirals and gut microbiome modulators.
Post-COVID condition impacts on individuals, societies, and economies
PCC drastically affects patients’ well-being and often their ability to work and do chores which in turn can deplete economic resources that can cause poverty, housing and food insecurity, not being able to care for themselves and others, participate in community activities or socialize – which affects the patients but also their families, friends and colleagues, caregivers and communities.
Thus, many PCC-patients experience exclusion, social isolation, stigma, discrimination and minority stress, which affects their sense of identity and quality of life.
Because of the large burden of PCC and its multisystemic and long-term (sometimes life-long) effects, there are profound impacts on health systems and related support- and disability- services.
In addition to the direct costs for healthcare, a conservative estimate of the annual total cost of PCC globally(e.g. loss of labour supply and productivity) could be $1 trillion- 1% of the global GDP in 2024, a serious challenge to reaching the global sustainable development goals.
The years that have passed since the beginning of the pandemic seem to be both a very long time as other major societal challenges have come to the forefront, but also a short time considering what we have achieved: the development of vaccines and immunization programs and other preventive measures, of testing methods and clinical data on COVID-19, and lately also on Post-COVID condition. This is a testament to human creativity and dedication! But we need to do more - the lack of- or unevenly spread knowledge of PCC in health care providers, policy makers, authorities and the public, together with social norms of individuals as being responsible for their own health and as morally obliged to contribute to society and productivity often lead to self-doubt, depression, anxiety and stress in patients that exacerbates their symptoms and furthers loss of quality of life.
This necessitates more research, not only in medicine but also in the social sciences and related academic disciplines. Most data on COVID-19 and PCC come from The Global North and data is largely lacking from The Global South, where access to health care is limited and other major societal challenges such as poverty, displacement, migration, armed conflicts and effects of the climate crisis, etc will most likely exacerbate the spread of COVID-19 and the risk of PCC.
The research findings and general knowledge of COVID-19 and Post-COVID condition must be spread! It will help us better care for the affected and prepare us to combat future epidemics. And we can all help with this. March 15th is the Annual International Long Covid Awareness Day, and this blogpost is my way of doing so.
As estimations of the prevalence of COVID-19 and Post-COVID condition and their impact have varied widely, and there have been numerous definitions of- and terminology for PCC, as well as different clinical findings on causes, mechanisms, symptoms and possible treatments, I have probably missed important facts or misinterpreted them in this post. I am a layperson, and being affected by PCC with cognitive dysfunction does not help. But if you yourself or a loved one is affected, or you want to know more, there are many resources. As a starting-point I have found the Swedish Covid Association and Wikipedia helpful, with many useful references and links.
Keywords: #COVID19 #Coronavirus #Pandemic #PostCOVIDcondition #LongCovid #Postcovid #LongCovidAwarenessDay #PostExertionalMalaise #SvenskaCovidföreningen #SwedishCovidAssociation #PublicHealthCrisis #SchoolOfBlogalstudies
Kim Wistedt is an alumnus of University of Gothenburg, with undergraduate studies in Social Anthropology, Development Studies, Conflict Resolution and the Humanities. She is an administrator at the University of Gothenburg and has worked at the School of Global Studies since it was established in 2005, as a study- and career guidance counsellor and with international student exchanges. She is also a professional gardener but only tends to her own garden these days as Post-COVID condition has taken a toll on her health, necessitating part-time sick leave since 2022.
Thanks to Elizabeth and Kit for your encouragement and help with writing this post!
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