Long-Term Effects of COVID-19: A Systemic Review

The sequelae of long-term complications of COVID-19 have been reported in many studies. These complications are almost similar in both adults and children and were observed during infection with other coronaviruses like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. It is observed too that these complications develop in both previously symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. The symptoms of long COVID start to manifest usually after 4-12 weeks of initial onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the long run, COVID-19 affects various body parts in different ways. These majorly include respiratory, cardiovascular, hematological, inflammatory, immunological, and neurological disorders along with gastrointestinal, metabolic, renal, hepatic, and skin disorders. However, there is a lack of detailed summary of the clinical presentation and effects of long COVID in the literature. This review summarizes the current evidence of the long-term effects of COVID-19 in adults and children along with the presenting signs and symptoms in these patients. This finding highlights the need for future epidemiological studies to access the risk of long-term complications of COVID-19 in order to develop effective multi-disciplinary risk reduction and management strategies for long COVID in patients.