NEJM Voices | Three very different ways to treat long COVID
The article discusses the clinical challenges of treating long COVID and similar post-infection syndromes characterized by fatigue and cognitive impairment. It highlights three recent randomized trials that offer different therapeutic approaches to managing these persistent symptoms.
Why it matters
As long COVID continues to affect millions, identifying effective treatments is a major priority for global infectious disease research.
One of the most challenging clinical encounters in infectious diseases is the patient with persistent fatigue and other disabling symptoms after an infection. Some of these patients meet criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), but whatever label we use, the story is often strikingly similar: They were living their healthy lives, doing just fine, until they came down with an infection. Ever since, they have struggled with a wide range of disabling symptoms, dominated by fatigue, cognitive struggles (often called “brain fog”), post-exertional malaise, and other ailments.
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