Longitudinal Study on Long COVID

One of the most puzzling, and often misunderstood and politicized, aspects of the recent pandemic is long-Covid.  The latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine has this interesting longitudinal study (meaning it is an observational study) of long COVID.  

The study compared 189 persons who were confirmed to have had COVID (and 55% of those participants also reported symptoms of long COVID) with 120 participants who never had COVID (and yet 12% of even this group reported symptoms consistent with long COVID!).   Both groups were then subjected to an extensive array of physical exams and tests of biological functioning.  These lab tests did not reveal any identifiable biological differences between the two groups.  The two factors that did predict a higher incidence of long COVID symptoms were being a woman and having a history of anxiety disorder.      

The results of the study:

189 persons with laboratory-documented COVID-19 (12% of whom were hospitalized during acute illness) and 120 antibody-negative control participants were enrolled. At enrollment, symptoms consistent with PASC were reported by 55% of the COVID-19 cohort and 13% of control participants. Increased risk for PASC was noted in women and those with a history of anxiety disorder. Participants with findings meeting the definition of PASC reported lower quality of life on standardized testing. Abnormal findings on physical examination and diagnostic testing were uncommon. Neutralizing antibody levels to spike protein were negative in 27% of the unvaccinated COVID-19 cohort and none of the vaccinated COVID-19 cohort. Exploratory studies found no evidence of persistent viral infection, autoimmunity, or abnormal immune activation in participants with PASC.

Cheers, 

Colin