Post-acute infection syndrome

Post-acute infection syndromes, abbreviated PAISs and also called infection-associated chronic conditions, are medical conditions characterized by symptoms attributed to a prior infection. Although it is commonly assumed that people either recover from an infection or die, long-term symptoms, called sequelae, are a possible outcome as well. Examples named in the source include long COVID, formally post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome, and post-Ebola virus syndrome. Common symptoms include post-exertional malaise, severe fatigue, neurocognitive symptoms, unrefreshing sleep, flu-like symptoms and pain. The pathology of most of these conditions is not fully understood, and management is generally symptomatic. The term groups several separately named conditions that share a pattern of lasting illness after an infection rather than describing a single disease with one cause.