Persistent COVID-19 Registry in Navarre. (Persicov-19)

COVID-19 is the largest pandemic faced by the public health system in the last hundred years. The medium- and long-term consequences of SARS-COV-2 infection are currently unknown. Studies on coronavirus-induced lung damage in previous epidemics such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV have shown an increase in morbidity and mortality due to pulmonary fibrosis as a consequence of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by these viruses. COVID-19 has also been shown to be a multisystemic disease with the potential to affect multiple organs or systems, damaged directly by the virus and/or indirectly by a dysfunctional immune response and/or by the supportive therapies used.

The healthcare system is currently focusing on the acute care of this disease, but continuous monitoring of these patients is necessary since many of them continue to have symptoms after the acute phase of the disease, known as persistent COVID-19 or long COVID. Long COVID or persistent COVID is the term used to describe the disease in people who have recovered from the disease but still report lasting effects from the infection or who have symptoms for longer than would be expected².

The study published by Carfi et al, conducted in a hospital in Rome, has shown that 9 out of 10 patients (87%) who had been discharged from hospital with COVID-19 60 days after discharge still reported at least one symptom of COVID-19³.

The investigators believe that once this peak phase of the epidemic has passed, it is very important to monitor the progress of patients who have suffered a moderate or severe infection in order to assess the presence of complications in the medium and short term. For this reason, it is necessary to implement a coordinated care protocol for patients diagnosed with persistent COVID-19 or with sequelae, involving both primary and hospital care, with a specific monographic consultation, as has been done in other centres⁴ and as agreed between the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI) and the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians (SEMERGEN)⁵.

The establishment of a specific care pathway for persistent COVID patients, together with the creation of a registry of these patients that collects information on their demographic and clinical characteristics, will make it possible to determine the prevalence of complications in this population and will provide the infrastructure and basis necessary for carrying out future short- to medium-term clinical projects aimed at the prevention and treatment of persistent COVID disease in Navarra.