Three Long Covid outpatient clinics opening in Netherlands on Friday
Some four years after the first patients started struggling with Long Covid, the Netherlands is opening its first outpatient clinics specifically for the syndrome. From Friday, doctors at the university medical centers of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Maastricht will work with Long Covid patients on ways to best treat their symptoms, AD reports.
People with Long Covid, also called post-COVID syndrome, often struggle with symptoms like extreme fatigue after exertion, concentration problems, brain fog, and heart palpitations. Thousands of people in the Netherlands are unable to work as a result. Despite worldwide research, no cure has been found for the syndrome yet. So the outpatient clinics will work on symptom management.
From Friday, Long Covid patients can ask their house doctors for a referral to the outpatient clinic at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, Amsterdam UMC, or Maastricht UMC+. Patients are eligible if they have had symptoms for at least a year after a coronavirus infection, function at least 25 percent less well in daily life than before, and have no other clear diseases that could cause their symptoms.
The hospitals hope to see between 500 and 1,000 patients in the first few months. “That is a fraction of the total number of patients, but we hope that eventually, everyone will benefit from what we learn at the outpatient clinics,” coordinator Léon van den Toorn, a pulmonologist at Erasmus MC and the chairman of the Post Covid Expertise Team, told AD.
Patients who visit the clinics will fill out questionnaires. “We will do the same tests on everyone. Then we will see which treatments we can best perform,” Van den Toorn explained. For example, patients who struggle with fatigue or brain fog may be helped by naltrexone, and patients who experience heart palpitations may benefit from ivabradine or fludrocortisone.
According to Merel Hellemons, a pulmonologist at Erasmus MC, doctors already prescribe these medicines. “But we do not keep a close eye on whether it works and for whom. We are going to do that now so that we can give good advice on its use.” She acknowledged that this is all symptom management. “We cannot really treat the cause yet. We know more and more about that, but not enough.”
After about three months, the other university hospitals in the Netherlands will also open Long Covid outpatient clinics. Once the doctors have enough experience and know better which treatment works for whom, the other hospitals and house doctors can also join in. “We are still far from a cure, but we are putting the pieces of the puzzle together. If we can get an idea of whether five treatments work, I would be very happy,” Van den Toorn said.
