Zadeh, Farigol Hakem, Wilson, Daniel R, Agrawal, Devendra K · Archives of microbiology & immunology · 2023
Long COVID refers to symptoms that persist for weeks or months after an initial COVID-19 infection has cleared. This review examines how COVID-19 damages various organs in the body, what causes these problems, and what treatments might help. The authors also discuss how vaccination may affect Long COVID and identify important gaps in our understanding of the condition.
This comprehensive review is relevant to ME/CFS patients and researchers because Long COVID and ME/CFS share overlapping symptom profiles and proposed mechanisms (such as viral persistence, immune dysfunction, and post-viral fatigue). Understanding Long COVID's pathophysiology and treatment landscape may inform approaches to ME/CFS management and highlight shared research priorities.
This systematic review does not establish causality for specific mechanisms in individual patients, nor does it prove that any single treatment is definitively effective. The review synthesizes existing research but cannot resolve the fundamental question of why some COVID-19 patients develop Long COVID while others do not, and it does not compare outcomes between Long COVID and ME/CFS directly.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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Primary citation
Zadeh, Farigol Hakem, Wilson, Daniel R, & Agrawal, Devendra K (2023). Long COVID: Complications, Underlying Mechanisms, and Treatment Strategies.. Archives of microbiology & immunology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37388279/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-zadeh-2023-long-covid,
author = {Zadeh, Farigol Hakem and Wilson, Daniel R and Agrawal, Devendra K},
title = {Long COVID: Complications, Underlying Mechanisms, and Treatment Strategies.},
journal = {Archives of microbiology & immunology},
year = {2023},
note = {PubMed: 37388279},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zadeh-2023-long-covid},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zadeh-2023-long-covid
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