Long Covid Land Toolbox
More than one-third of individuals with COVID-19 experience long COVID
September 17, 2025
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases reported a pooled prevalence of long COVID as 36% worldwide.
The World Health Organization has defined long COVID as the continuation or development of COVID-19-related symptoms 3 months or longer after initial infection with SARS-CoV-2.
To consolidate data on the prevalence of long COVID, investigators from the University of Michigan and Yale School of Public Health in the United States searched publication databases for relevant studies through July 2024.
A total of 429 studies, representing over 2 million individuals with confirmed COVID-19, were included in the final analysis. The studies were conducted in Europe (n=195), Asia (n=126), North America (n=61), South America (n=31), Africa (n=9), Oceania (n=3), and multiple regions (n=4).
The pooled global prevalence of long COVID among individuals who had confirmed COVID-19 was 36% (95% CI, 33-40; P <.001; I2=100%). The investigators posited that the heterogenous definition of long COVID, study design, population characteristics, and the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 likely contributed to the high heterogeneity.
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in post-COVID-19 long-hauler patients is associated with platelet storage pool deficiency
Front. Med., 10 September 2025
Sec. Hematology
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a type of dysautonomia, has been an enigma to many healthcare providers. As many as 80% of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) long-hauler patients meet the diagnostic criteria for POTS, highlighting awareness of this debilitating multisystem disorder. The etiology of POTS has not been entirely defined, but researchers have speculated that an immunological stressor such as a viral infection might be an initiating event. Prior to the pandemic, we reported that POTS patients have a bleeding diathesis with platelet dense granule storage pool deficiency (δ-SPD).
Published:
SARS-CoV-2 infection heightens the risk of developing HPV-related carcinoma in situ and cancer
Objective
This study aims to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on HPV-related cancer and carcinoma in situ.
Conclusion
SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with elevated risks of HPV-related carcinoma in situ and cancer, irrespective of age or race. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the interplay between viral infections and cancer development, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Case Definition of a New Disease: A Review of the US Working Definition (USG) and 2024 NASEM Definition for Long COVID
by Elisa Perego
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Sq, London WC1H 0PY, UK
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Substack by David
Your appointment was at 2:30. You’ve been sitting in this waiting room since 2:15, which means you’ve already burned through half your energy reserves for the day.
You’re clutching a carefully written list of symptoms that have plagued you since your Covid infection eight months ago. Brain fog that makes you feel like you’re thinking through molasses. Heart palpitations that wake you up at 3 AM. Fatigue so crushing that taking a shower feels like running a marathon.
You sit there counting ceiling tiles, trying not to cry.
You were early. You always are now. That’s the only way you can make it through the door, early, braced, list in hand, pretending you’re okay when you’re absolutely not.
You’ve rehearsed this visit like a courtroom deposition. Because that’s essentially what it’s become.
Long COVID: a clinical update
Post-COVID-19 condition (also known as long COVID) is generally defined as symptoms persisting for 3 months or more after acute COVID-19. Long COVID can affect multiple organ systems and lead to severe and protracted impairment of function as a result of organ damage. The burden of this disease, both on the individual and on health systems and national economies, is high. In this interdisciplinary Review, with a coauthor with lived experience of severe long COVID, we sought to bring together multiple streams of literature on the epidemiology, pathophysiology (including the hypothesised mechanisms of organ damage), lived experience and clinical manifestations, and clinical investigation and management of long COVID. Although current approaches to long COVID care are largely symptomatic and supportive, recent advances in clinical phenotyping, deep molecular profiling, and biomarker identification might herald a more mechanism-informed and personally tailored approach to clinical care. We also cover the organisation of services for long COVID, approaches to preventing long COVID, and suggestions for future research.