Long COVID: A Systematic Review of Preventive Strategies
Abstract
Since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in December 2019, Long COVID (LC) has become a significant global health burden. While knowledge on LC is accumulating, studies on its prevention are still lacking. We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Me-ta-Analyses) guidelines to investigate prevention options for LC. We identified fifteen articles on vaccines, seven on antivirals, and six on other interventions, after searching for articles in the PubMed/MEDLINE database using the MeSH terms. Most vaccine-related studies demonstrated a protective effect of COVID-19 vaccines against developing LC. COVID-19 vaccination is vital, as it not only prevents COVID-19 but also reduces severity of illness and may help prevent LC. Our review found an equivocal effect of antivirals while metformin had a protective effect in outpatients and corticosteroids in hospitalized patients against LC. Conversely, COVID-19 convalescent plasma and multiple micronutrient supplement, did not confer any protection against LC. Further studies are warranted to shed light on these topics.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Metformin as an adjuvant in breast cancer treatment
- Metformin Lysosomal Targeting: A Novel Aspect to Be Investigated for Metformin Repurposing in Neurodegenerative Diseases?
- Aberrant HSF1 signaling activation underlies metformin amelioration of myocardial infarction in mice
- Metformin induces ZFP36 by mTORC1 inhibition in cervical cancer-derived cell lines
- Protein Interaction Network for Identifying Vascular Response of Metformin (Oral Antidiabetic)
- Preventing Long COVID With Metformin
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.