Risk factors and incidence of long-COVID syndrome in hospitalized patients: does remdesivir have a protective effect?

Background: The definition of 'long-COVID syndrome' (LCS) is still debated and describes the persistence of symptoms after viral clearance in hospitalized or non-hospitalized patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Aim: In this study, we examined the prevalence and the risk factors of LCS in a cohort of patients with previous COVID-19 and followed for at least 6 months of follow-up.

Design: We conducted a prospective study including all hospitalized patients affected by COVID-19 at our center of Infectious Diseases (Vercelli, Italy) admitted between 10 March 2020 and 15 January 2021 for at least 6 months after discharge.