Introduction
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by
SARS-CoV-2. It primarily affects the respiratory system with possible
complications such as acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS),
multiple organ dysfunctions, and sepsis1. Other
commonly reported symptoms include cough, low grade fever, fatigue,
shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches, neurocognitive difficulties,
thromboembolic conditions, depression and other mental health
conditions2,3. Although knowledge of the course and
symptom manifestation of the disease is still evolving and trials are
ongoing4,5, of concern is that individuals severely
affected by COVID-19 disease could require intensive care and may rely
on mechanical ventilator support for a considerably extended
period2,6,7.
Typically, survivors of critical illness are often faced with persistent
and potentially long-lasting problems, including a decline in physical
function, poor mental health and reduced cognition8,9. This constellation of new or worsening physical,
cognitive and psychosocial impairments in critical illness survivors has
been described as Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)10. Intensive care requirement and disease nature of
COVID-19 suggests that survivors are a high risk group for
PICS6.
The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was confirmed in Egypt on the14th
of February 2020. Since then, the numbers of COVID-19 cases have
continued to increase with a higher incidence in countries like South
Africa, Nigeria and Algeria11. With this increase in
COVID-19 cases in Africa, prolonged stay in the Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) among individuals with severe COVID-19 infection is inevitable. As
such, there is need to create awareness for clinicians, especially in
developing regions like Africa while making explicit rehabilitation
recommendations for the trajectory of care for critically ill COVID-19
patients12. This is envisaged to help in optimizing
their survivorship experience.
In this editorial, we provided a brief overview of the clinical features
of PICS, and highlighted the strategies that the clinicians could adopt
in managing COVID-19 patients with PICS.