Long COVID: The latest manifestations, mechanisms, and potential therapeutic interventions

Abstract

Abstract COVID‐19 caused by SARS‐CoV‐2 infection affects humans not only during the acute phase of the infection, but also several weeks to 2 years after the recovery. SARS‐CoV‐2 infects a variety of cells in the human body, including lung cells, intestinal cells, vascular endothelial cells, olfactory epithelial cells, etc. The damages caused by the infections of these cells and enduring immune response are the basis of long COVID. Notably, the changes in gene expression caused by viral infection can also indirectly contribute to long COVID. We summarized the occurrences of both common and uncommon long COVID, including damages to lung and respiratory system, olfactory and taste deficiency, damages to myocardial, renal, muscle, and enduring inflammation. Moreover, we provided potential treatments for long COVID symptoms manifested in different organs and systems, which were based on the pathogenesis and the associations between symptoms in different organs. Importantly, we compared the differences in symptoms and frequency of long COVID caused by breakthrough infection after vaccination and infection with different variants of concern, in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of long COVID and propose improvement for tackling COVID‐19.

Keywords

• breakthrough infection
• long COVID
• SARS‐CoV‐2
• SARS‐CoV‐2 variants