According to a recent statement by the American Medical Association,10 long COVID represents a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems that arise after an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Patients with long COVID have persistent symptoms that resemble survivors of previous coronavirus outbreaks (e.g., SARS epidemic in 2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) epidemic in 2012). In these cases, multiple factors contributed to the chronic symptoms that may have been the consequence of damage done to various organ systems due to a combination of heightened inflammatory cytokine production and a pro-coagulant.11
10. American Medical Association: Long COVID: Over 200 symptoms, and a search for guidance, AMA Covid Updates, April 29, 2022.11. Zubair, Adeel S et al. “Neuropathogenesis and Neurologic Manifestations of the Coronaviruses in the Age of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Review.” JAMA neurology vol. 77,8 (2020): 1018-1027. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2065.
