Call for papers - Long-term effects of COVID-19 infections

Guest Editors:
Giulia Marchetti: University of Milan, Italy
Maria Mazzitelli: Padua University Hospital, Italy

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 31 December 2023

BMC Infectious Diseases is calling for submissions to our Collection on “Long-term effects of COVID-19 infections”: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on global health, affecting millions of people and leading to widespread illness and death. While the acute phase of the pandemic has been well documented, there is growing recognition of the long-term effects of COVID-19, with many patients experiencing persistent symptoms even after resolution of the acute illness. This phenomenon, known as post-COVID syndrome, is increasingly recognized as a significant public health challenge. In recognition of the multidisciplinary approach needed to care for COVID-19 survivors, and the framework for identifying those at high risk for post-acute COVID-19, BMC Infectious Diseases welcomes submissions to its newly launched collection.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Giulia Marchetti: University of Milan, Italy

Dr. Marchetti is a Full Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Milan and Director of the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, San Paolo Hospital, Milan. Her research interests are the mechanisms underlying immune restoration, inflammation and gut microbioma with HIV co-infection and immune pathogenesis of SARS CoV-2 infection. She is currently coordinating the EUCARE-POST COVID-19 STUDY within the EUCARE project (“European Cohorts of Patients and Schools to Advance Response to Epidemics”) a multicenter cohort study aiming at investigating post COVID-19 manifestations.

Maria Mazzitelli: Padua University Hospital, Italy

Dr. Mazzitelli is a full consultant at the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit of Padua University Hospital. Her research interests include HIV and comorbidities, ageing and polypharmacy, and COVID-19. In her current role at the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit of Padua University Hospital, she runs the HIV outpatient’s clinics and antimicrobial stewardship activities.

About the collection

BMC Infectious Diseases is calling for submissions to our Collection on “Long-term effects of COVID-19 infections”:

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in a global healthcare crisis and strained health resources. As the population of patients recovering from COVID-19 grows, it is important to establish an understanding of the healthcare issues surrounding them. COVID-19 is now recognized as a multi-organ disease with a broad spectrum of manifestations, and similarly to post-acute viral syndromes described in survivors of other virulent coronavirus epidemics, there are increasing reports of persistent and prolonged effects after acute COVID-19. This phenomenon is now referred to as post-acute COVID-19 or post-COVID syndrome and is characterized by persistent symptoms and/or delayed or long-term complications beyond 4 weeks from the onset of symptoms that include but are not limited to fatigue, chest pain, dyspnea, cognitive disturbances, arthralgia, and a decline in quality of life.

We are particularly interested in manuscripts that address the following topics:

Identification and characterization of key clinical, serological, imaging and epidemiological features of COVID-19 in the chronic phase of disease.
Clinical studies, including prospective cohorts and clinical trials, that help us to better understand the pathophysiology of this disease.
Investigation and management of symptoms and organ-specific complications that developed after the acute phase of COVID-19.
Manuscripts covering Interdisciplinary cooperation and comprehensive care and rehabilitation of patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome in the outpatient setting.

This call for papers invites submissions from researchers and practitioners in the field of post-COVID syndrome, including epidemiology, clinical medicine and public health. We welcome scientifically sound original research articles and systematic reviews. This collection will not consider Case Reports.

Note: For the scope of this collection, post-COVID-19 syndrome is defined as persistent symptoms and/or delayed or long-term complications beyond 4 weeks from the onset of symptoms.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Long term effects of COVID-19 infections" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.