Are We Defining Long-Covid Incorrectly? A Closer Look At Its New ‘Universal’ Definition

The problem no one talks about, and what can be done about it.

Image adapted from rawpixel.com.

In a major development in June 2024, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) — an organization representing the collective scientific voice of the U.S. — released a 242-page document reflecting the consensus of leading experts on long-Covid.

The NASEM report began by establishing a universal definition of long-Covid, highlighting that different guidelines (at least 10 of them) use different criteria. To unify these guidelines, the NASEM committee “chose to put forth a single definition” for long-Covid (Figure 1):

“Long COVID (LC) is an infection-associated chronic condition (IACC) that occurs after SARSCoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems.”

Now, what’s lacking in this definition?

Figure 1. The universal definition of long-Covid, proposed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in 2024. Source: NASEM.

Author’s note: Before we proceed, let’s clarify that long-Covid is a legitimate post-viral…