Unveiling a Beginning of New Entity from COVID-19: Chronic Viral Systemic Inflammatory Syndrome

Abstract

The emergence of the novel coronavirus strain SARS-COV-2 has resulted in the accumulation of critically ill patients in hospital beds across the globe. Since the emergence of SARS-COV-2, many updates and assumptions are being discussed based on the emerging understanding of the pathophysiology and outcomes of the infection. The host immune response is the critical factor in disease severity and the unique immune response of each individual has resulted in a broad spectrum of disease severity and clinical presentations. This review aims to identify the potential immune pathways that may lead to the development of chronic systemic inflammatory diseases post-SARS-Cov-2 infection. In this article, combining the emerging knowledge on the immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 infection with insights into the underlying mechanisms of certain autoimmune and chronic Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases we propound our hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 infection produces chronic viral inflammatory syndrome. This study concludes that the breadth of the current SARS-Cov-2 pandemic may require a closer examination of the underlying mechanisms, preventive measures, diagnostic methods, and interventions for post-viral systemic chronic inflammatory sequelae. Thus follow-up of COVID-19 survivors is indispensable to fully appreciate and mitigate a deleterious pile-up of patients with chronic diseases precipitated by the pandemic.