Special Issue "Clinical Consequences of COVID-19": Taking a Look at Complexity.

This document is an editorial from the Journal of Clinical Medicine, discussing the clinical consequences of COVID-19. It highlights that the respiratory system is most commonly affected by the disease, but other organs such as the neurological, gastrointestinal, and cardiac systems can also be involved. The document emphasizes the complexity of the disease and the wide range of severity it can present. It also mentions the concept of "long covid" or "post-acute COVID-19 syndrome," which refers to the persistence of mild symptoms and disorders after testing negative for the virus. The editorial includes 17 papers that investigate various factors contributing to the clinical complexity of COVID-19, including host-pathogen interactions, different clinical manifestations, and the impact on healthcare systems. It also discusses the influence of virus mutations, demographic characteristics, and lifestyle on the severity of the disease. The document highlights the challenges in clinical management, such as the difficulty in diagnosing bacterial superinfections in critically ill COVID-19 patients. It also addresses the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems, non-COVID patients, and healthcare personnel. Lastly, the editorial mentions that several articles in the special issue focus on the post-disease and long-term effects of COVID-19, including the quality of life and the physical, psychological, and social effects of the pandemic. [Extracted from the article]