It’s time to stop saying ‘long COVID’, says top doctor
Queensland's Chief Health Officer says the term wrongly implies that the post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 were 'unique'
The term ‘long COVID’ is causing “unnecessary fear” in the community and should no longer be used, says Queensland’s Chief Health Officer.
According to Dr John Gerrard, who was appointed the state’s top doctor in late 2021, the post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 did not differ from those seen with other respiratory viral infections.
The infectious diseases specialist said the use of terms like ‘long COVID’ wrongly implied that long-term symptoms associated with SARS-CoV-2 were “unique and exceptional”.
“This terminology can cause unnecessary fear and, in some cases, hypervigilance to longer symptoms that can impede recovery,” he said in a media statement about a study he had co-authored.
