Long Covid test could soon be available, researchers hope

“Long Covid” – the name given to the lingering symptoms that millions of people have reported suffering from after infection with Covid-19 – is here to “haunt us for some time to come”, according to a scientist studying the impact of the disease. But it is hoped that a diagnostic test can soon be developed.

Symptoms of long Covid vary but can include continued fatigue, shortness of breath, memory loss or trouble concentrating (nicknamed “brain fog”), insomnia, chest pain, or dizziness. However, it remains a poorly understood disease and scientists do not yet know why some people continue to have certain symptoms after Covid, but not others.

Data collected in a British study recently suggested that millions of people could be affected by a long Covid following a coronavirus infection. To date, more than 187 million cases of Covid have been recorded worldwide. Considering this number, the potential amount of people who could be affected by the long Covid is significant.

Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, told CNBC on Tuesday that “the data (on the long Covid) is coming in droves and quickly and what it says, on the 170 million plus people on the planet who have been infected with this virus, only 10 to 20% of them will have long-term persistent symptoms. “

“What you see are people who have wheezing or shortness of breath and fatigue and brain fog and this long list of about 50 symptoms. So it’s really a thing and it’s a thing that is going to haunt us for quite some time to come. It’s a price we have to pay and we have to look at in terms of people’s lives and jobs and health care for them, “he told Squawk Box CNBC Europe.

Altmann noted that the data on the long Covid was “very reproducible across the planet whether you look at China or Bangladesh or France or the United States.”

Potential causes of long Covid considered by scientists include organ damage caused by Covid infection, immune system problems following infection or reactivation of the virus; or maybe a combination of factors.

A British study, published last October, identified the main factors that make patients more likely to suffer from the coronavirus in the long term, with age, weight and gender among them. But other research gives hope that there may soon be a test to diagnose this little-understood but often life-changing disease.

Altmann of Imperial College is part of a team investigating the long Covid, analyzing blood samples from those who have it in an attempt to find the cause.

Previewing their first findings on the BBC’s Panorama show Monday night, the team said they found irregular antibodies to be common in blood samples from people with long-term Covid.

Normally, the immune system sets up a protective response by creating antibodies to fight a virus, but sometimes things go wrong and “autoantibodies” – sometimes described as “rogue antibodies” – are produced that attack healthy cells.

Researchers led by Altmann have found that such autoantibodies are common in people with long Covid, although only a small number of blood samples were analyzed in the pilot study. However, no autoantibodies were found in comparative blood samples from people who had recovered quickly from the virus or had never tested positive for Covid-19.

Yet the discovery of these irregular antibodies in people with long Covid could pave the way for a simple diagnostic test in which a person’s blood is analyzed. If autoantibodies are found, a long Covid could potentially be diagnosed; and this, in turn, could help inform patients’ treatment and recovery plans.

Speaking to the BBC, Altmann said the findings could not yet be described as a breakthrough, but were “a very exciting step forward”.

“One of the things that we are absolutely certain of is that long Covid can arise from any type of infection: asymptomatic, mild or severe,” he told Panorama.

“The pilot data we have indicates that you can really detect different patterns of autoimmunity in people who have a long Covid,” he said. While more research needs to be done, Altmann said he was optimistic about the possibility of a simple blood test available that could diagnose a long Covid in 6 months.