Study Found Persistent Infection Could Explain Long COVID in Some People
On Oct. 9, 2024, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that people with wide-ranging long COVID symptoms were twice as likely to have SARS-CoV-2 proteins in their blood, compared to those without long COVID symptoms.
A persistent infection could explain why some people experience long COVID symptoms, according to the study. The team found evidence of persistent infection in 43 percent of participants with cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal or neurologic symptoms of long COVID. Compared to people who didn’t report long COVID symptoms, those who reported persisting symptoms many organ systems were approximately twice as likely to have SARS-CoV-2 proteins circulating in their blood.
The results were published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
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Source: Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Credit: Photo: Scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow) emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab. Courtesy: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, Montana.
