#long flu

AI summary:

Key findings: long COVID

COVID‑19 was linked to a broad spectrum of comorbidities beyond the lungs, including circulatory, nervous, musculoskeletal, digestive, endocrine/metabolic, mental/behavioral, ocular, and oncologic conditions.​

People with substantial pre‑existing multimorbidity—especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease, COPD, and neuropsychiatric disorders—were more likely both to get COVID‑19 and to develop post‑COVID (long COVID) sequelae.​

Key findings: long flu

Influenza showed a similarly broad, system‑spanning pattern of associations, again involving circulatory, neurological, musculoskeletal, digestive, metabolic, mental/behavioral, ocular, respiratory, autoimmune, and cancer endpoints.​

Pre‑existing cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory disorders strongly predisposed people to clinically significant influenza, indicating infection risk clusters in those with high baseline chronic disease burden.​

Long‑term sequelae and “long flu”

After influenza, there was a durable increase in new‑onset multi‑organ disease, with some risks remaining elevated for up to 5–15 years, defining a clear “long flu” phenotype.​

The most persistent signals were cardiovascular (thromboembolism, major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, stroke) and neurological/psychiatric (migraine, dementia/Alzheimer’s, depression), plus metabolic and renal outcomes like new‑onset type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.​

The authors argue that influenza should be seen as a systemic event embedded in a chronic disease continuum, not just an isolated respiratory illness.​

Interpretation and implications

Both infections behave as systemic “stress tests” that unmask and accelerate chronic disease, especially in people with existing cardiometabolic and inflammatory conditions.​

As predicted, #Covid19 #JN1 has become dominant globally. The highly mutated strain is a descendant of #Omicron, specifically the BA.2.86 (Pirola) variant.

A Covid Update, by @EricTopol including JN.1, long COVID, long Flu, and XBB.

Scientists discover 'long flu,' causing lingering effects post-illness #lingeringeffects #longflu #postillness