A new study published shows four factors that can help identify how someone develops long COVID-19.
A new study published shows four factors that can help identify how someone develops long COVID-19.
The Long Covid-19
The study, published Thursday, in an article of The Hill, Covid-19 remains a mystery. Experts are struggled to explain or understand why some people who are infected with COVID-19 end up having lingering symptoms like fatigue, difficulty thinking clearly, or shortness of breath weeks or even months later. Furthermore, In the journal Nature Communications, found that people who go on to develop long Covid-19 have lower levels of certain antibodies in their blood soon after they are infected with the coronavirus.
Finally, a new study found in the journal Cell that helps shed some light on the condition, for the first time identifying four factors that can help predict whether someone will develop long COVID-19.
Jim Heath, president of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and an author of the study said in an interview, identifying the factors is a major move in defining what is the cause and how to develop treatments
The Four Factors of Long Covid-19
Researchers examined blood and virus samples, clinical data, and self-reported symptoms from 309 COVID-19 patients to identify if there were any biological links between post-acute sequelae and long COVID-19.
The four risk factors for long COVID-19 that can be assessed at the time of diagnosis:
- The Autoantibodies
It mistakenly attacks healthy parts of the body. Autoantibodies are linked with autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, where your immune system attacks the body.
- Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)
A common and extremely infecting up to 90 percent of people at some point, and often causes only mild symptoms. It usually becomes inactive in the body following the initial infection, but it can be reactivated when someone gets COVID-19, helping lead to long COVID-19 symptoms.
- SARS-Cov-2
RNA levels in the blood, are also known as the viral load. This factor combined with the role of EBV, suggests that new antiviral drugs that combat the immediate effects of COVID-19 infection, like Pfizer Paxlovid, could also be useful in treating long COVID-19.
- Type 2 diabetes
Pre-existing
COVID-19 remains not fully clear, but somehow these four factors have a big impact in understanding what causes long COVID-19 and helping develop treatments, the mechanism for why they are associated with it. The study followed 309 COVID-19 patients over time, collecting blood and swab samples at various intervals.
In addition, vaccination is the most effective protection in battling against COVID-19. A separate study from the United Kingdom discovered that fully vaccinated people were 41 percent less likely to develop long COVID-19.
