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World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2022; 12(6): 773-778
Published online Jun 19, 2022. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i6.773
Legacy of neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with past COVID-19 infection: A cause of concern
Domenico De Berardis, Francesco Di Carlo, Massimo Di Giannantonio, Mauro Pettorruso
Domenico De Berardis, Mental Health, NHS, ASL 4 Teramo, Teramo 64100, Italy
Francesco Di Carlo, Massimo Di Giannantonio, Mauro Pettorruso, Neurosciences and Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. D'Annunzio", Chieti 66100, Italy
Author contributions: All authors have contributed to this editorial with equal efforts.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Domenico De Berardis, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Professor, Mental Health, NHS, ASL 4 Teramo, Piazza Italia 1, Teramo 64100, Italy. domenico.deberardis@aslteramo.it
Received: April 6, 2021
Peer-review started: April 6, 2021
First decision: September 5, 2021
Revised: September 13, 2021
Accepted: May 16, 2022
Article in press: May 16, 2022
Published online: June 19, 2022
Core Tip

Core Tip: While acute neuropsychiatric manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are the object of study, far less is known about long-term neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19 infection. Much of the knowledge about this topic can be drawn from past coronaviruses outbreaks and from the study of the mechanisms through which severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 harms the central nervous system. A relevant wave of both psychiatric (anxiety and depressive disorders, post-traumatic syndromes) and neurological symptoms could be expected. There will be a vital need for monitoring and early intervention to minimize this potential burden of neuropsychiatric distress.