Long Covid, here is the map of the Italian centers where it is possible to cure oneself- breaking latest news

online the first national map of diagnosis and assistance centers for symptoms from Long Covid. The National Institute of Health (Iss) surveyed them as part of the Ministry of Health‘s Analysis and Response Strategies to the Long-Term Effects of Covid-19 (Long Covid) infection project. In all 113 clinicsdove they take care of patients who after more than four weeks from the disease, despite the negativization of the tampon, continue to report symptoms.

Where are the centers

The only regions that do not have one are Basilicata, Sardinia and Valle d’Aosta. That Lombardy is better equipped, with 20 centers available. In second place Lazio, which counts 16. Third in the list, similarly, Liguria and Sicily with ten structures for each. Following Puglia (8), Veneto (7), Emilia Romagna (6), Tuscany (6), Piedmont (6), Campania (5), Marche (4), Abruzzo (4), Friuli Venezia Giulia (3), province of Bolzano (3), province of Trento (2), Molise (1), Calabria (1). The organization of services is very uneven on a national level. In some areas, the mono-specialist intervention, in others instead activates a multidisciplinary team, as it would be better indicated, in consideration of the wide variety of clinical manifestations, concerning several organs, which characterize Long Covid – he comments Graziano Onder, scientific manager of the project and director of the department of cardiovascular, endocrine-metabolic diseases and aging of the ISS -. But there is not the same specialist of reference, at times it can be the internal doctor, at other times the geriatrician or the infectious specialist. Most of the centers follow both former Covid patients who have needed hospitalization and those who have been managed at home.

Guidelines for the management of patients with Long Covid

The ministerial project (coordinated by the ISS), which started in December 2021, lasting two years, has four other objectives in addition to the mapping of the centers. By October – explains Onder – a document with good practices for the management of patients with Long Covid in order to standardize the diagnosis and assistance protocols throughout the national territory. At the same time, the prevalence of this condition in the Italian population and the impact it has on public health expenditure will have to be defined. How? Through an analysis of the data of family doctors for assess the extent of Long Covid in the primary care setting, using the monitoring network (Covid Search network) of the Italian Society of General Practice. And through an analysis of regional data on hospitalization services carried out (acute, rehabilitation, long-term hospitalization), specialist visits and drug consumption. We have selected three representative regions of the North, Center and South, namely Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tuscany and Puglia specific Onder. We compared almost 30 thousand citizens who had Covid in the first two waves of 2020 with as many who were not infected with respect to the use of hospital and territorial health services and pharmacological assistance, taking into account the presence of previous chronic diseases and their impact explains Paolo Francesconihead of the health sector of the epidemiology observatory of the regional health agency of Tuscany.

A surveillance system

The project also provides for the establishment of a national Long Covid surveillance system by autumn. It is based on the collection of clinical information from patients, from symptoms to duration, to the tests performed, if they resorted to hospitalization, if they were vaccinated or not – continues the scientific director -. The platform will allow the production of periodic reports, updated monthly, and will work for the entire duration of the project, until December 2023. For the future, see. Finally, another mission, practically already set up, is the national clinical network of the Long Covid centers surveyed. To have a scientific community of experts who work on the phenomenon and be involved in information activities. The managers of the centers have already participated in three webinars, concludes Onder.

I symptoms of Long Covid

Among the most frequent general symptoms reported by people with Long Covid are excessive fatigue and persistent, muscle weakness and pain, sarcopenia, decreased appetite. But Covid can also involve some long-term neurological consequences (headache, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, sleep disturbances), cardiological (tachycardia, arrhythmia, chest pain, changes in blood pressure), pneumologico (dyspnoea, persistent cough), psychological (anxiety, stress, depression), gastrointestinal (abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea), dermatological (chilblains, skin rashes) and so on. A recent study conducted by the Irccs Humanitas of Milan, published on Jama
, highlighted that the third dose of the anticovid vaccine reduces the appearance of Long Covid from 41.8% to 16%. All over Italy patients hospitalized due to Covid and recovered, until May 2023 are entitled to exemption from the health ticket (the code that the family doctor or specialist must enter in the referral CV123) for follow-up exams (blood samples, electrocardiogram, spirometry, chest CT scan, walk test, psychological interview).