Monitoring COVID-19 patients for signs of inflammation could help identify those at risk of long-term lung problems, suggests new studies. Scientists, who evaluated the recovery of 145 primarily hospitalised patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and June 2020 who took part in the Austrian clinical study, revealed that protracted inflammation following COVID-19 is strongly linked to long-term changes in lung structure and function.. The results of the study, published in eLife, suggest that monitoring people for markers of inflammation after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus could help identify those at risk of long-term lung problems and optimise follow-up care. Although a vast majority of COVID-19 patients display mild disease, a significant proportion reports lingering or recurring clinical symptoms and full recovery can take several months to years.