As the Omicron infections rapidly push up the number of Covid-19 cases, many suffer from long Covid symptoms.

While there are not many hospitals to treat post-Covid-19 conditions, Myongji Hospital on Monday opened “Post Covid-19 Syndrome Clinic” to provide care for those with long Covid symptoms.

The hospital said that the clinic built an integrated multidisciplinary care system because patients usually have three or more post-Covid-19 symptoms.

As there is no clear guideline for long Covid treatment in Korea or other countries, the hospital will accumulate treatment experience seeing patients, it said.

The WHO defines long Covid as “a condition that occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection, usually three months from the onset of Covid-19 with symptoms and lasts for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.”

Post-Covid-19 syndrome lasts for several weeks or several months after recovery. Symptoms include respiratory ones such as cough, sputum, difficulty breathing, aftereffects of pneumonia, neurological sequelae such as headache, dizziness, sleep disturbance, systemic symptoms such as chronic fatigue and weakness, and mental and psychological symptoms such as memory loss, poor concentration, and depression. In some cases, people can suffer from abnormalities of smell and taste, keratoconjunctivitis, hair loss, menstrual irregularities, and decreased sexual function.

The most commonly continued symptoms are difficulty breathing, decreased ability to exercise, and hypoxia. Reduced pulmonary diffusion capacity is commonly reported as a long-term aftereffect after recovery from acute Covid-19.

According to a British study that observed 384 Covid-19 patients for two months, 53 percent complained of difficulty breathing, and 34 percent, persistent coughing. Six months after complete recovery, 50 percent of 349 patients reported abnormalities in chest CT scans.

After recovery from Covid-19, many reported chronic weakness, depression, and insomnia. Some had a decreased ability for concentration or memory and language problems.

A Russian cohort study showed that 59 percent of people who recovered from Covid-19 said symptoms remained six months after recovery, and 29.3 percent said they had three or more symptoms.

A U.S. study on 1,260 people discharged from hospitals after Covid-19 recovery, which was published in Nature, also found that 55 percent of the patients complained of three or more symptoms.

Paying attention to these findings, Myongji Hospital’s Post Covid-19 Syndrome Clinic treats various Covid-19 symptoms through multidisciplinary care from pulmonology, neurology, family medicine, cardiology, psychiatry, otolaryngology, and pediatrics.

Professor Ha Eun-hye of pulmonology at Myongji Hospital, who heads the Post Covid-19 Syndrome Clinic, said many Covid-19 patients complain of complex symptoms such as difficulty breathing, loss of energy, and chest palpitations after recovery.

“If they want to get treated, they have to go to several departments. So, it is important to provide integrated multidisciplinary care,” she said.

Ha regretted that doctors had to rely on empirical treatment because there was no established treatment guideline for Covid-19 aftereffects.

“I wish there were an established treatment,” she said.

Although Omicron infections cause milder symptoms than those by the Delta variant, surging Covid-19 cases will lead to more patients with long Covid symptoms.

“When patients come to the clinic, they will start with a simple blood test and then take a CT scan. If they need additional exams, they will be able to see doctors in other departments on the same day,” Ha said.

She noted that those who recovered from Covid-19 still visit many hospitals due to lingering symptoms.

“I hope Myongji Hospital’s Post Covid-19 Syndrome Clinic could help Covid-19 patients,” she added.