In a recent lecture hosted by The John Snow Society, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discussed the 10-30% of COVID-19 survivors who continue to experience symptoms that are not easily explained by the recent COVID infection after the virus is cleared from their systems, 

During the lecture, entitled COVID-19: Lessons Learned and Remaining Challenges, Fauci listed seven signs of long COVID, or post-COVID syndrome, often reported by patients.* 

• Extreme, Sometimes Incapacitating, Fatigue. This is more than feeling tired at the end of a long workday, or after a strenuous workout. For people with post-COVID fatigue, even simple household chores can leave the body feeling depleted and unable to function. 
• Shortness of Breath. While it’s understandable that COVID patients who have sustained lung damage might experience breathing difficulty, COVID long-haulers who have not sustained any obvious lung damage are also experiencing shortness of breath. There is no known cause yet for this phenomenon.
• Dysautonomia. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls involuntary functions such as breathing, digestion, and heartbeat. When ANS problems, collectively called dysautonomia, occur, they can result in issues with blood pressure, breathing, bladder control, and heart rate.
• Tachycardia. Tachycardia is a too-rapid heart rate. In adults, this is generally a heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute, but this can also depend on your age and physical condition.
• Anxiety and Depression. Dealing with new, chronic, and often mysterious symptoms and illnesses contributes to high rates of anxiety and depression among long-haulers, especially if the symptoms have caused a complete reversal of their previous state of health and fitness. Some patients also report that their illness affects their serotonin levels, which in turn affect mood and can lead to migraines.
• Brain Fog. Brain fog, the “very curious inability to focus or concentrate, particularly when trying to follow something on a screen on a computer,” is another common symptom reported by long-COVID sufferers. 
• Temperature Dysregulation. COVID-19 can modify your body’s nervous system and immune responses. This can leave long-haulers feeling either too hot or too cold, and registering body temperatures that fluctuate wildly. Keep track of your temperature; 100.4 is considered a fever.

When asked how long ‘long COVID’ is likely to last, Fauci spoke plainly. “We don’t know the answer to that,” he said, “but we know it’s at least measured in months because we have now started a multi-NIH institutes study, looking at large cohorts of people who have both been infected and uninfected as a control to take a look at this constellation of signs and symptoms.” 

“You can explain residual organ system damage,” he added, “but what is completely inexplicable from a pathogenic standpoint is when you have no abnormal laboratory data” yet are incapacitated by fatigue or another of the commonly-reported symptoms. Without evidence pointing to what might be causing the symptoms, treatment is a tremendous challenge.

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions. 

*Korab, A. (2021, Nov. 2). 7 Signs of Long COVID, Says Dr. Fauci. Eat This, Not That!    https://www.eatthis.com/news-fauci-signs-long-covid/