The global challenges of the long COVID-19 in adults and children

Abstract

During the last three and a half years (2020–2023), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), generated an international emergency, defined as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and was later declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In May 2023, the Emergency Committee of the WHO met for the 15th time and recommended to the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, that COVID-19 should no longer be categorized as a PHEIC. Although the recommendation was adopted, COVID-19 is still considered a global health threat. COVID-19 has caused more than 767 million cases and 6.94 million deaths up to June 2023 (https://covid19.who.int/), and these numbers could be significantly higher, potentially even three to four times the excess mortality associated with this disease...