Australia’s Chief Health Officer Urges for the Term ‘Long COVID’ to Be Abandoned
Dr. Gerrard expressed that the term “long COVID” should be eliminated as it wrongly implies that long-term COVID symptoms are unique to other viral infections and causes unnecessary fear that there is something particularly ominous about COVID-19.
Following a study that found the long-term effects of COVID-19 to be similar to the seasonal flu, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer John Gerrard issued a statement on March 15 calling for the abandonment of the term “long COVID.”
Dr. Gerrard, an infectious diseases expert, highlighted that a study involving over 5,000 Australians revealed “no evidence” that individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 were more prone to developing functional limitations a year after diagnosis compared to those who tested negative.
Describing symptoms lasting over three months after a COVID-19 infection, long COVID includes issues like extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain, and heart palpitations, as outlined by the Australian government’s Health Direct website.
While 3 percent of COVID-positive participants reported moderate-to-severe functional impairments, 4.1 percent of non-COVID participants did, with similar results seen in symptomatic adults with influenza.
Dr. Gerrard argues that in highly vaccinated population health systems, long COVID may have seemed distinct and severe due to the high volume of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. This study establishes that ongoing symptoms and functional impairment rates align with other post-viral illnesses.
Presenting the Queensland Health study at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in April, Dr. Gerrard raises the importance of comparing post-COVID-19 outcomes with other respiratory infections.
However, not all experts are in agreement with scrapping the term “long COVID.” Professor Philip Britton urges caution, maintaining that the term has global recognition by the WHO despite acknowledging the study’s findings.
