A significant proportion of coronavirus patients, perhaps over 40% according to some estimates, continue to suffer from symptoms for months after the initial diagnosis.
To date, however, it remains impossible to predict which patients will develop long Covid or not.
Now, a new US study identifies risk factors that can be measured in the early stages of infection to identify high-risk patients.
Viral load in the blood, diabetes, autoantibodies, and previous infection with another virus, Epstein-Barr virus, are some of the risk factors named in the study in the authoritative Cell Review.
Blood tests
Researchers at the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle monitored 309 Covid-19 patients in a laboratory test. Some experienced long-term Covid symptoms, such as fatigue, inability to concentrate, shortness of breath, and depression.
Comparison of these patients with those who fully recovered from the initial infection showed that viral load (the number of copies of the virus per unit volume of blood) was a prognostic indicator of long Covid.
“We found that the initial blood counts in the blood were strongly correlated with some of the long Covid symptoms that patients would experience months later,” said Yapeng Shu, a team member.
The researchers also found that the risk of long-term Covid-19 was higher in people who had previously been infected with Epstein-Barr virus, which infects more than 90% of the population in most countries (in children it occurs as a cold, in adults causes infectious mononucleosis).
The study showed that the Epstein Barr virus, which is stored in the human body for life but normally remains inactive, is reactivated in the early stages of Covid-19. “This may be related to the deregulation of the immune system during Covid-19 infection,” added Dr. Su.
In addition, the study showed that long Covid is more likely in people who carry “autoantibodies,” that is, antibodies that attack healthy tissues and are associated with autoimmune diseases.
People with pre-existing antibodies, the analysis showed, often produce fewer coronavirus antibodies. “Many patients with high levels of autoantibodies also have lower levels of antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2,” said Daniel Chen, the study's lead author.
“This makes them more vulnerable to escape infections,” he said, when the virus escapes the immunity offered by vaccines.
Pre-existing type II diabetes also increases the risk, the study showed,
The findings, the research team estimates, on the one hand improve our knowledge about the long-term complications of coronavirus, on the other hand, pave the way for the timely prediction and treatment of long Covid.
Source: in.gr
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