The Spanish Research Network on Persistent Covid-19 is born: “Finally they put us patients at the center”

“This is the beginning of something that has to grow with tenacity, work and effort. The act of establishing this network is the beginning of something great”, commented during the presentation ceremony the president of the Spanish Society of General Practitioners ( SEMG), Antonio Fernández Pro Ledesma. In fact, the REiCOP, with the format of a scientific association, will bring together, together with the affected groups, all those scientific and professional organizations interested in improving the health care provided to patients with Persistent Covid, which represent around 10 percent of those infected with coronavirus. “As a patient, I cannot rejoice at having achieved this milestone in Medicine, that the patient has been placed in the center, in a shared care in which he is involved in the process of treatment and recovery from the disease”, commented the representative of the group of patients and second vice president of the network, Esther Rodríguez. The representative of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology and first vice-president of REiCOP, José Ramón Blanco, has spoken, recalling the importance of knowing the needs of patients in order to restore them to the health they had before of becoming infected with the virus. Main strategic lines Different strategic lines have already been defined, such as, for example, the update of the ‘Clinical Guide for Persistent Covid Patient Care’, which is expected to be published in early 2023, as well as a mobile application for help professionals in diagnosis and decision-making. In addition, REiCOP will also propose a training program on persistent Covid-19 aimed at health professionals and with university endorsement for this academic year 2022-2023. In this sense, the second vice president of the organization has highlighted the need to train doctors in post-viral conditions. Another of the projects proposed by REiCOP is the development of a clinical registry from Primary Care, complemented by hospital care services, to identify the clinical and genetic factors associated with the development of Persistent COVID. On the other hand, the recruitment of patients for the genetic study and the consequent analysis of the collected samples has begun. Specifically, more than a hundred samples are expected to be analyzed over the next month. Other projects also include the development and validation of a care scale based on the information obtained in the clinical record, to evaluate in a comprehensive and holistic way to patients suffering from persistent Covid-19, beyond the monitoring of each of their symptoms. The research team will meet over the next month to begin with the first steps in the design of the comprehensive scale. The research network will also focus on projects aimed at studying the efficacy of different drugs for the specific treatment of affectation, or the analysis of care flows through the patient’s experience.