Members of the European Parliament’s Special Committee, which aims to learn lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic (COVI), held a workshop on Thursday 9 March on the topic of ‘long Covid’.
The workshop was eagerly awaited with 200-300 messages from interested European citizens, said the Chair of the workshop, Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, French).
Dr Peter Piotr, a member of the European Commission’s advisory panel on Covid-19, described the reality of long Covid as being characterised by a combination of symptoms that include extreme fatigue, insomnia, cardiovascular problems and difficulties in concentrating. Long Covid is estimated to affect some 65 million people worldwide. According to the doctor, the vaccine is likely to reduce the possibility of long Covid by 15–50% and Ensitrelvir may be effective in combating it.
The scepticism that surrounds the existence of long Covid is due to its multifaceted nature, said Piotr: 200 symptoms have been identified that affect different organs. Similarly, other respiratory diseases can have long-term impacts.
Dr Piotr also highlighted the efforts made at a European level: - €42 million has been mobilised under the Horizon Europe framework programme to study long Covid; - a group of health care experts has been established; - in respect of patients, the EU strategy for treatments for Covid-19, that was launched in 2021, includes research into treatments for long Covid; - €66 million was awarded to research studies on the subject under the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes; - a conference between European and American experts was organised on the subject by the Health Services of the European Commission.
Professor Dominique Salmon, member of the French National Authority for Health, spoke about the epidemiology of long Covid, its clinical profile and its short-term evolution. She noted that there was a definition of long Covid, based on a “Delphi” consensus.
In her opinion, long Covid is a new, fluctuating and invisible disease. It is also complex and costly for health care systems to manage. As a result, there is a risk, according to Dr Salmon, that affected patients will be discriminated against and that their treatment will be delayed. She also noted that there is a risk of the disease turning into a chronic illness for some patients.
Dr Salmon called for the disease to be recognised as a somatic illness, for special funds to be allocated to support severe cases, and for networked research to be organised at European level. She also called for campaigns to raise awareness.
Professor Clara Lehman, from the German Center for Infection Research, spoke about the causes, diagnosis and potential treatments. Professor Bernhard Schieffer, from the University Hospital at Marburg, spoke about the difficulty of selecting patients for clinical studies on long Covid.
Professor Carmen Scheibenbogen, from the Charité Hospital in Berlin, spoke about her experience in the clinical management of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). She says there is evidence that the number of CFS cases “at least doubled during the pandemic”. She called for transnational research efforts, the organisation of clinical trials, cooperation with industry and harmonised diagnostic criteria.
On behalf of the Long Covid Europe organisation, an umbrella organisation of 24 long Covid patient organisations in Europe, Ann Li called for a broad public awareness campaign and targeted campaigns for carers. She also mentioned long Covid in children. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)