INSIDE THE HOME AT THE TIME OF THE EXPLOSION IS ACCOUNTED FOR. >>> THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEER, AND MEDICINE HAVE FINALLY GIVEN LONG COVID A UNIVERSAL DEFINITION. MORE THAN 1300 EXPERTS AND RESEARCHERS CONTRIBUTED TO THE NEW DEFINITION WHICH SAYS THE LONG COVID IS A, QUOTE, INFECTIOUS ASSOCIATED CHRONIC CONDITION THAT OCCURS AFTER A COVID-19 INFECTION AND IS PRESENT FOR AT LEAST THREE MONTHS AS A CONTINUOUS, RELAPSING DISEASE THAT AFFECTS ONE OR MORE ORGAN SYSTEMS. THE CDC HAS ACCEPTED THIS DEFINITION. FOR MORE, LET'S BRING IN OUR SENIOR SCHOLAR AT JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY. I HAVE NO SPOKE TO YOU IN A WHILE BUT IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. LET ME JUST START WITH THAT. THIS IS JUST ANECDOTAL BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING, I AM DONE TALKING ABOUT COVID. THEY DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT ANYMORE BECAUSE THOSE YEARS WERE SO ROUGH. WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER? >> IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER BECAUSE COVID DID NOT EVAPORATE. IT IS STILL ONE OF OUR ENDEMIC RESPIRATORY VIRUSES THAT WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT PEOPLE AND EVEN KILL PEOPLE. EVEN THOUGH THE BAD DAYS OF HOSPITALS UNDER CRISIS IS OVER, THIS WILL STILL BE A PROBLEM, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF LONG COVID. THIS IS ONE OF THE LONG, CASCADING TALES. WE NEED TO KEEP REMEMBERING ALL THE MISTAKES OF COVID-19 BECAUSE WE WILL FACE OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASE EMERGENCIES IN THE FUTURE. >> I GAVE A LONG, OFFICIAL DEFINITION OF WHAT LONG COVID IS. CAN YOU PUT IT INTO SIMPLER TERMS? WHAT IS LONG COVID? >> LONG COVID IS A CONDITION IN WHICH SOMEONE WHO HAS HAD COVID HAS RECOVERED FROM THE ACUTE PART OF THAT INFECTION AND NOW IT IS THREE MONTHS LATER AND THEY STILL HAVE SYMPTOMS INVOLVING MULTIPLE DIFFERENT ORGAN SYSTEMS INCLUDING BEING SHORT OF BREATH, HAVING COGNITIVE DIFFICULTIES, HAVING FATIGUE THAT HAVE PERSISTED. WHAT THIS DEFINITION DOES IS IT STANDARDIZES WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT. ALL OF THE EARLY LONG COVID RESEARCH HAS BEEN PLAYING WITH DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS, MAKING IT HARD TO COMPARE THINGS WITH ONE STUDY VERSUS ANOTHER STUDY AND THIS CLEAR DEFINITION GIVES RESEARCHERS A GREEN LIGHT TO START DOING MORE RIGOROUS WORK AND BEING ABLE TO USE ALL OF THE TOOLS AND MEDICINE TO TRY TO UNRAVEL THE MYSTERIES OF THIS PROBLEM AND GET PEOPLE SOME SOLUTIONS. >> ARE THERE STILL A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH SOMEBODY COMING TO THE DOCTOR AND SAYING, I THINK I HAVE LONG COVID AND THE DOCTOR IS NOT QUITE SURE WHAT TO SAY OR HOW TO FIGURE THIS OUT? >> THAT IS DEFINITELY THE CASE. THERE IS NOT SOME BLOOD TEST THAT YOU CAN DO. LONG COVID SYMPTOMS ARE SOMETHING THAT OVERLAP WITH MANY OTHER CONDITIONS. A CLINICIAN IS FACED WITH A PATIENT WITH POSSIBLE LONG COVID AND THEY HAVE TO DO A LOT OF WORK TO ISOLATE WHAT IS CAUSING THOSE SYMPTOMS. IS IT AN UNDIAGNOSED OTHER ILLNESS? IT IS SOMETHING NOT RELATED TO COVID OR IS IT LONG COVID? BY HAVING A DEFINITION LIKE THIS, WE CAN START TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TYPES OF TESTS, WHAT TYPE OF DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA CAN YOU USED TO RULE OTHER THINGS OUT AND RULE LONG COVID IN AND THAT PUTS PEOPLE ON A PATH TO THE CORRECT TREATMENT. >> IT IS A NEBULOUS TERM WITH LOTS OF DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS THAT COULD BE FROM MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES. THERE IS NOT ONE SPECIFIC SYMPTOM FOR LONG COVID AND NOT ONE BLOOD TEST YOU CAN DO. >> WE DID NOT TALK ABOUT THIS BEFORE AND I APOLOGIZE IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER. DO WE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE SUFFER FROM LONG COVID? >> IT IS IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS. LONG COVID SEEMS TO BE MUCH MORE PROMINENT IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC BEFORE THE VACCINE PEOPLE WHO WERE AFFECTED WITH THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE VIRUS. THOSE LONG COVID NUMBERS ARE VERY HIGH. IT HAS BECOME LESS AND LESS WITH THE OMICRON VARIANT AND IN INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE VACCINATION BUT ABOUT 10% OF PEOPLE WHO GET INFECTED MAY HAVE LONG COVID. WE KNOW THAT THIS WILL COUNTRY WAS BASICALLY INFE
