Long Covid: Further research required to understand treatment, says Hiqa

A clear treatment pathway for long Covid remains unknown, according to Michelle O’Neill, deputy director of health technology assessment at The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

This comes following a systematic review of interventions to improve the symptoms of long Covid, conducted by Hiqa at the HSE’s request to inform updates to their long Covid model of care.

The review found 75 randomised controlled trials that considered interventions for adults with long Covid, and a range of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions were identified with most examined in single studies.

The studies were generally small, had short follow up periods and typically only included people who had symptoms of long Covid for less than a year.

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No definitively effective treatments were identified, and there was limited reporting on the safety of the interventions.

“Further research on the long term safety and effectiveness of the interventions included in this review is required,” Ms O’Neill said.

“Additionally, a better understanding of the pathophysiology of long Covid would help researchers in designing more targeted interventions that address the complex nature of long Covid.”

“In the meantime, healthcare professionals should provide a holistic, person-centred approach to the assessment and management of people with long Covid. This is important as symptoms of long Covid are highly diverse, vary in severity, and can fluctuate over time,” she said.

Hiqa noted that there are hundreds of ongoing trials investigating potential interventions to manage the symptoms of long Covid, which may lead to further evidence about potentially safe and effective interventions in due course.

At present the best way to prevent long Covid is to follow public health advice and minimise the risk of infection or reinfection with coronavirus.

Long Covid is a complex condition with a wide range of symptoms that can be debilitating and vary significantly from person to person. The most common symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, memory loss and confusion, loss of smell, and shortness of breath.

Although many people experience an improvement in their symptoms over time, some can experience them for years.