Themed Issue on: Long Covid

Scope: A high proportion of patients infected with SARS-CoV2 report symptoms long after the acute infection has resolved. Some of the effects are well described, but the range of symptoms following the infection varies from the mild to the severe. It is now known to affect even children.

This phenomenon, generally referred to as Long Covid, can profoundly affect a patient’s long term health and quality of life, and may be life-changing. Long COVID may linger and it is unknown how long affected patients may experience symptoms.

Despite the wealth of data describing long term effects of COVID19, specific case definitions as well as clear mechanisms of action are lacking. Current definitions appear to be oversensitive and under-specific. The wide range of symptoms reported, without an identified mechanism of action, contributes to perpetuating this lack of specificity.

Epidemiology and Infection is calling for papers that will help narrow the definition of this unique complication of Covid 19 infection. These could include, but are not limited to, observational population level studies, studies measuring the presence/absence of a particular clinical endpoint, and reviews looking at symptom clustering, in particular if underpinned by a biologically plausible hypothesis. 

Register you interest in submitting a paper to this special issue by contacting the editorial office at epidemiologyandinfection@cambridge.org. Please include the following details:

• Suggested title
• Lead author
• Short summary
• Estimated month of submission

The final date for submission of papers will be notified to all those who have registered interest in due course.