INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR PHARMACY PROFESSIONALS ON POST-COVID SYNDROME

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory viral disease characterized by damage to many organs, and as a result, a large number of symptoms in patients. After the acute phase of the disease, 10 % of patients may have one or more symptoms for a long period of time, which significantly worsens their physical and emotional condition.This chronic systemic painful condition is called post-covid syndrome.Patients with signs of post-covid syndrome do not always associate pathological changes in their body with COVID-19 and may seek pharmaceutical help from a pharmaceutical worker, associating their condition with other diseases with similar symptoms. Therefore, to provide full-fledged professional pharmaceutical care, the pharmacist must clearly know the symptoms, methods of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with signs of post-covid syndrome.A pharmacy as a healthcare institution, especially in martial law, can perform the functions of forming in patients who have had COVID-19 and have signs of post-covid syndrome, an algorithm for recovery after the acute stage of the disease.And therefore, it is very important for pharmacy specialists who provide pharmaceutical care to patients with symptoms of post-covid syndrome to be informed about medicines according to evidence-based medicine data on their effectiveness and safety.In order to improve the knowledge of pharmacy specialists about post-covid syndrome to provide quality pharmaceutical care to patients with post-covid syndrome, we have summarized the literature data on pathological changes in the human body after SARS-CoV-2 infection, methods of restorative pharmacotherapy and rehabilitation measures.Post-Covid syndrome manifests itself in patients with a variety of symptoms and conditions, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome, shortness of breath and chest pain, cough, postural orthostatic tachycardia, fatigue with or without physical exertion, muscle weakness, myalgia, cognitive impairment, etc.Symptoms of post-Covid syndrome are divided into constant and periodic. The patient may experience one or more symptoms at the same time.Patients who have been hospitalized in infectious departments of medical institutions for the treatment of the acute phase of COVID-19 disease are more likely to have a prolonged course of the disease and severe post-Covid syndrome in the form of various pathological manifestations, indicating damage to many systems and organs.At the current stage, a pharmacy specialist needs to be well-versed and oriented not only in the main symptoms and treatment of the acute phase of COVID-19, but also to have knowledge about the negative consequences of this disease for the patient’s body in the form of post-Covid syndrome, diagnostic methods, pharmacotherapy, and types of rehabilitation measures.Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and post-COVID conditions are a severe multisystem viral disease with severe long-term consequences for the patient’s body, which the patient does not always associate with the disease suffered, and therefore pharmacy specialists, as the most accessible medical professionals to the population, must have knowledge about the main symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 and post-COVID syndrome to provide full and high- quality pharmaceutical care to patients with signs of this disease.