What is long Covid syndrome and who risks the most?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the “post-Covid-19 condition»Such as the persistence of otherwise unexplained disorders that persist for at least two months after 12 weeks from resolution of the acute phase of disease (also not confirmed by the identification of the virus as long as it is probable). Anyone who has contracted the virus is at risk of developing symptoms after some time.
The severity of the disturbances suffered and the severity of the acute phase of the disease are only partially related to the problems that may arise later. The reasons why some people develop i disturbances from Long Covid and others not are still being studied and at the moment very unclear.
However, we know that some sufferers have an increased risk of experiencing these problems: who has an older age, who has suffered from a greater number of symptoms during the acute phase (for example 5 or more symptoms according to some scientific papers) or those who have suffered from the most severe forms of disease needing hospitalization or admission to intensive care, the sex female (unlike the male sex who is more prone to the acute phase), white ethnicity.

– Sergio Harari and Vera Martinella are the authors of the just released book Post Covid, published by Solferino

– The symptoms of Long Covid, which affects one in two patients: from hair loss to “mental fog”