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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has just proposed a new case definition for long COVID. The criteria specify that the condition "is present for at least 3 months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state" and the condition can be defined by "single or multiple symptoms" that "can range from mild to severe."

We are also informed that there are "more than 200" possible symptoms. Finally, although "some individuals with long COVID are severely affected," there are no specific limitations in functioning.

In practical terms, this ensures that the criteria have good sensitivity, meaning that everyone who has long COVID will probably be included. That's good news for making certain that struggling patients are not left behind.

However, the specificity is rather poor, which translates into inaccurately diagnosing many who do not have long COVID. This has implications for medical billing, disability benefits, and social accommodations, not to mention the consequences that can come from slapping a chronic illness label on a patient. Head over to MedPage Today to read more about it.