EU-US Conference on long COVID: Exploring new insights and strategies for long COVID
The European Commission, DG Health and Food Safety, hosted an online conference with over 800 participants to highlight the latest news and developments on long COVID in the EU and the US. Health experts, researchers, as well as representatives of patient organizations and policymakers from around the world exchanged their insights and knowledge to better understand and manage the condition and to identify key challenges and knowledge gaps. The insights and collaborations fostered during this conference, which was held on 13 December 2022, continue to hold exceptional value.
As one of the speakers for current research evidence, Evelina Tacconelli, leader and coordinator of ORCHESTRA, shared valuable insights from the ORCHESTRA project. Recent research findings Evelina shared were:
💡 There are more than 60 documented symptoms of long COVID, and women are at a threefold higher risk of developing the condition than men.
💡 People who were not hospitalized with COVID-19 can still develop long COVID, regardless of the severity of their initial infection.
💡 The incidence and prevalence of long COVID have been impacted by the introduction of vaccines, with vaccinated individuals having a reduced risk of long COVID and death compared to unvaccinated individuals.
💡 The risk of long COVID varies depending on the circulating variant of the virus.
💡 There is a high level of stigma associated with long COVID.
In clonclusion, she highlighted the need for greater public awareness and support for patients with Long COVID, with a need of a consensus on the definition of Long COVID not only including symptoms as the only factor in the definition and the need for more research on vulnerable populations. International collaboration, she argued, remains crucial for addressing this persistent and complex condition.
Find the full report of the European Commission here: https://health.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-03/ncd_20221213_mi_en.pdf
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