"Post-COVID-19 Symptoms Vary... 'See a Hospital if They Persist for More Than 4 Weeks'"

Classification of Post-COVID-19 Sequelae Symptoms. [Data provided by Myongji Hospital]

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] As the resurgence of COVID-19 intensifies, voices are calling for increased attention to the so-called ‘long COVID syndrome,’ referring to the aftereffects of COVID-19. Since people who have been infected with COVID-19 are highly likely to be reinfected by variants such as BA.5, the aftereffects may also become prolonged.

According to health authorities and the medical community on the 12th, the number of new confirmed cases caused by the BA.5 variant is expected to exceed 50% of all confirmed cases as early as this week, establishing it as the dominant strain in South Korea. The transmissibility of BA.5 is 35.1% stronger than that of the stealth Omicron (BA.2), and the level of neutralizing antibody production is about 20 times lower than the original COVID-19 virus and about 3 times lower than the Omicron variant. This means that even if immunity has been formed through vaccination or infection, infection and reinfection by BA.5 can easily occur.

Accordingly, the issue of COVID-19 aftereffects is expected to continue. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define various symptoms lasting more than four weeks after infection as COVID-19 aftereffects.

According to a recent paper by Professor Jung Young-hee’s team at Myongji Hospital, published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS), a comparison and study of symptoms were conducted on 1,122 patients who visited clinics complaining of COVID-19 aftereffects. They reported various aftereffect symptoms including cardiopulmonary symptoms (95.2%), systemic symptoms (73.4%), neurological symptoms (67.8%), and psychiatric symptoms (45.7%). In particular, within four weeks of infection, major symptoms included cough (82.2%), sputum (77.6%), and headache (37.8%), whereas after four weeks, symptoms such as fatigue (69.8%), decreased attention (38.9%), depression (25.7%), and blurred vision (21.9%) were observed. This indicates that respiratory symptoms were concentrated in the early stages, while various symptoms appeared later.

Foreign research also shows that half of confirmed patients experienced at least one complication within six months, with symptoms occurring across multiple systems including respiratory, cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, endocrine, and digestive systems. This suggests that diagnosis and treatment by a single medical specialty alone cannot promptly address COVID-19 aftereffects.

Hospitals at all levels are operating multidisciplinary COVID-19 aftereffects clinics in response. Since March, Myongji Hospital, which opened the first aftereffects clinic in South Korea, has treated more than 3,300 patients to date. Recently, Gangdong Kyung Hee University Hospital and Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital have also started COVID-19 aftereffects treatment. Professor Jung emphasized, “COVID-19 aftereffects manifest as a complex combination of various symptoms due to multiple mechanisms. When symptoms persist for more than four weeks, a multidisciplinary medical approach is essential.”

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