Three years have passed since Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread worldwide, its clinical manifestations ranging from mild respiratory symptoms to severe pneumonia and fatalities. In May 2023, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), however emphasises that “it continues to take a significant toll on health globally. With the pandemic now in its fourth year, it is clear the virus is likely to stay with us for many years to come – if not forever.”

While the pandemic phase of COVID-19 has since been under a degree of control with vaccines, public health measures and surveillance, the long-lasting effects of infection are yet to be fully-understood. The medical community now has a new battle to confront: long COVID, also known as Post COVID Condition (PCC) or Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19. The WHO defines long COVID as "Post COVID-19 Condition, commonly known as long COVID, is the continuation or development of new symptoms 3 months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least 2 months with no other explanation". These effects can last weeks, months or years, rendering what was once an acute respiratory disease into an essentially chronic condition with a wide range of symptoms.

According to Professor Michel Goldman (Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Medicine) the immediate effects of Long Covid need urgent attention:

‘The impact of long COVID-19 on public health is expected to be huge since more than half of COVID-19 survivors develop post-acute sequelae according to systematic review studies (3–6). The real burden of long Covid is however not established due to the elusive definition of the condition (7) and the emergence of the Omicron variants. Although the risk of developing long Covid after infection with an Omicron variant has been found to be reduced by half as compared to previous strains, the absolute numbers will clearly remain high (8). It is therefore important to rapidly address the several challenges related to long Covid.’

(Goldman, Long COVID, a great imitator of the 21th century, Frontiers in Medicine 2022 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.1026425/full)

There is an ever-shortening window of opportunity to better understand the clinical diagnosis, treatment and therapeutic support of those people suffering from the debilitating disease known as Long Covid. Long Covid could therefore become one of the great medical challenges of our time and an appropriately curated resource for clinicians, healthcare workers and the general public is critical.

This Research Topic aims to highlight medical research approaches in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and clinical management of long COVID. It aims to address knowledge gaps and generate evidence for its improved management and control. It will incorporate critical, theoretically informed and empirically grounded original research contributions using diverse approaches, experimental, observational and intervention studies, conceptual framing, expert opinions and reviews from across the world. The Research Topic proposes a multi-dimensional approach to improving the management of long COVID with scientific contributions from all areas of medicine.

Submissions are welcome for the following article types: original research, review, mini-reviews, systematic reviews, research protocol, opinion and hypothesis. We particularly welcome contributions that include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Long COVID in the Omicron era
Therapeutic approaches of long COVID
Pathogenesis of long COVID
Biomarkers of long COVID

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