The University Medical Center under the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City has launched a clinic dedicated to providing sub-specialized care to COVID-19 patients with lingering symptoms.

The clinic was officially put into operation on Monday, according to the center’s verified Facebook page. 

The symptoms, often referred to as COVID-19 long-haulers, post-COVID or long-COVID conditions, can vary widely in patients who have had the coronavirus, so the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed a unifying name for the condition, which is post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC.

The new clinic provides a team of multidisciplinary specialists and subspecialists to help patients who have been diagnosed with PASC.

The associated symptoms can be as varied as persistent shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, impaired stamina, chest pain, palpitations, dizzy spells, exercise intolerance, wide-swings in blood pressure or impaired concentration.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the post-COVID-19 condition usually appears in coronavirus patients about three months from the time of infection.

These symptoms usually persist for at least two months and cannot be explained by other medical conditions.

According to doctors, treatment of post-COVID-19 sequelae is very important. 

Without prompt treatment, patients with PASC will experience prolonged respiratory function decline, muscle weakness, pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and so on, leading to a decrease in quality of life and productivity.

Vietnam has documented 1,323,683 patients since the COVID-19 pandemic first struck early last year, with 1,010,407 recoveries and 26,483 deaths.

More than 73.3 million of the country’s 98 million people have received at least one dose while over 54.4 million are now fully immunized.

The Ministry of Health recorded 14,558 new coronavirus infections and 223 virus-related deaths on Monday.

Ho Chi Minh City has remained the country’s biggest COVID-19 epicenter, with 479,483 infections and over 18,300 deaths as of Monday, according to the health ministry.

The southern city reported 1,174 cases and 94 fatalities on Monday. 

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