ReviewThe Lancet. Respiratory medicine2021
Confronting COVID-19-associated cough and the post-COVID syndrome: role of viral neurotropism, neuroinflammation, and neuroimmune responses.
Review in The Lancet. Respiratory medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 191 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
191 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 367 citations in OpenAlex.
- Selective P2X3 versus dual P2X2/3 receptor antagonists in refractory chronic cough: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Purinergic signalling · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of long term physical and mental sequelae of COVID-19 pandemic: call for research priority and action.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- COVID-19 disease severity to predict persistent symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Primary health care research & development · 2022Pooled it
- ESCMID rapid guidelines for assessment and management of long COVID.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2022Guideline
- Auditory Disturbances and SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Brain Inflammation or Cochlear Affection? Systematic Review and Discussion of Potential Pathogenesis.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Safety and antiviral activity of inhaled siRNA SNS812 for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19: a phase 2 randomized trial.Journal of biomedical science · 2026Trial
- Efficacy and safety of Lactobacillus plantarum GCWB1001 for respiratory health in a double blind randomized placebo controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Nebulized inhalation of plasma-activated water in the treatment of progressive moderate COVID-19 patients with antiviral treatment failure: a randomized controlled pilot trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- Treatment of COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction with olfactory training, palmitoylethanolamide with luteolin, or combined therapy: a blinded controlled multicenter randomized trial.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2023Trial
- Pharmacokinetics, Bioequivalence and Safety of Cloperastine in Chinese Healthy Subjects Under Fasting and Postprandial Conditions.Drugs in R&D · 2022Trial
- Closed-Loop Neuromodulation for Brain Fatigue: From Real-Time Biomarkers to Adaptive Intervention.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Laryngeal Dysfunction Following COVID-19: A TriNetX Retrospective Cohort Study.The Laryngoscope · 2026Article
- Observational
- Does previous COVID-19 severity affect propofol sedation safety during ERCP?: A prospective observational study.Medicine · 2026Observational
- Variant-Independent Association Between Clinical Symptoms and IgM/IgG Responses During the Transition from Pre-Omicron to Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Infections.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Acute inflammation and fronto-striatal connectivity in the transition from acute to persistent fatigue after mild COVID-19: A longitudinal fMRI study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Transfer of IgG from long COVID patients induces symptomology in mice.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Nasal nitric oxide in post-acute COVID-19 cough: A comparison with chronic cough and the role of current allergic rhinitis.Medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Observational
131 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cough is one of the most common presenting symptoms of COVID-19, along with fever and loss of taste and smell. Cough can persist for weeks or months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, often accompanied by chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment, dyspnoea, or pain-a collection of long-term effects referred to as the post-COVID syndrome or long COVID. We hypothesise that the pathways of neurotropism, neuroinflammation, and neuroimmunomodulation through the vagal sensory nerves, which are implicated in SARS-CoV-2 infection, lead to a cough hypersensitivity state. The post-COVID syndrome might also result from neuroinflammatory events in the brain. We highlight gaps in understanding of the mechanisms of acute and chronic COVID-19-associated cough and post-COVID syndrome, consider potential ways to reduce the effect of COVID-19 by controlling cough, and suggest future directions for research and clinical practice. Although neuromodulators such as gabapentin or opioids might be considered for acute and chronic COVID-19 cough, we discuss the possible mechanisms of COVID-19-associated cough and the promise of new anti-inflammatories or neuromodulators that might successfully target both the cough of COVID-19 and the post-COVID syndrome.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.