NICE guideline on long covid

The covid-19 pandemic has killed over 1.6 million people worldwide, 1 caused the worst healthcare crisis of this century, and put a huge dent in our economies.The magnitude of the population still struggling with symptoms four weeks after their acute illness-commonly called "long covid"-is becoming obvious and demands urgent prioritisation to prevent a further blow to health systems and the healthcare workforce.Long covid is thought to occur in approximately 10% of people infected, 2 3 so there are likely more than 5 million people affected globally.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, and the Royal College of General Practitioners have developed a rapid guideline for managing the long term effects of covid-19 4 to assist long covid services being set up in the NHS 5 and elsewhere.A lack of systematic research means that the current guideline is necessarily preliminary, but it will be updated regularly as new evidence emerges-becoming a "living guideline."This approach is essential as the current guideline lacks important detail, including a comprehensive list of organ complications seen in patients with long covid, the investigations required, and specific interventions for these complications.