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https://theconversation.com/long-covid-appears-to-be-driven-by-long-infection-heres-what-the-science-says-244635>
"Around 5–10% of people with COVID infections go on to experience long COVID,
with symptoms lasting three months or more.
Researchers have proposed several biological mechanisms to explain long COVID.
However, in a perspective article published in the latest
Medical Journal of
Australia, we argue that much, if not all, long COVID appears to be driven by
the virus itself persisting in the body.
Since relatively early in the pandemic, there has been a recognition that in
some people, SARS-CoV-2 – or at least remnants of the virus – could stay in
various tissues and organs for extended periods. This theory is known as “viral
persistence”.
While the long-term presence of residual viral fragments in some people’s
bodies is now well established, what remains less certain is whether live virus
itself, not just old bits of virus, is lingering – and if so, whether this is
what causes long COVID. This distinction is crucial because live virus can be
targeted by specific antiviral approaches in ways that “dead” viral fragments
cannot.
Viral persistence has two significant implications:
1. when it occurs in some highly immunocompromised people, it is thought to be
the source of new and substantially different-looking variants, such as JN.1
2. it has the potential to continue to cause symptoms in many people in the
wider population long beyond the acute illness. In other words, long COVID
could be caused by a long infection."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
