Skill Checkup: A 50-Year-Old Man Who Recovered From COVID-19 Is Still Experiencing Persistent Fatigue

Enrico Brunetti, MD

May 11, 2023

Editor's Note: The information in this quiz is current as of May 11, 2023. For the most recent COVID information, see https://www.medscape.com/resource/coronavirus

The Skill Checkup series provides a quick, case-style interactive quiz, highlighting key guideline- and evidence-based information to inform clinical practice.

A 50-year-old man with asthma presents to his general practitioner via telemedicine. Four months ago, he was diagnosed with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). He recovered from the acute symptoms of headache, cough, sore throat and fever within the first couple weeks of infection, but persistent fatigue interferes with his daily life; he has had to take time off work intermittently over the past couple of months for lack of energy. The patient also raises concern that he has a hard time concentrating, and his 'memory is shot'. He also feels more irritable than he did before COVID-19. The general practitioner suspects post-COVID-19 syndrome or 'long COVID'.

For asthma, the patient takes a leukotriene modifier daily. His history of vaccination for COVID-19 includes both doses of the primary messenger RNA vaccine series in February and March 2021 and a booster in October 2021; he has not yet received the bivalent booster.

The patient reports his current temperature is 37.06°C (98.7°F), height is 6 ft (1.83 m) and weight is 203 lb (92.08 kg).

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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Enrico Brunetti. Skill Checkup: A 50-Year-Old Man Who Recovered From COVID-19 Is Still Experiencing Persistent Fatigue - Medscape - May 11, 2023.

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