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Re: Long Covid

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:01 pm
by raven
That's very interesting. Although presumably some case of long covid do spontaneously resolve, so you'd have to take that into account.

From that article:
In a post on the blog Elemental, Iwasaki proposed three reasons vaccines might improve people’s symptoms: T cells, boosted by the vaccine, could eliminate a viral reservoir; a heightened immune response could clear any lingering virus fragments; or the vaccine may “divert autoimmune cells,” if long-lasting symptoms are the result of an inappropriate autoimmune response.
That last idea is very appealing. Whatever causes the mild fatigue/fibromyalgia-like symptoms I get, it always seems to stop when I get sick. I have wondered if that was down to giving the immune system a fresh target but also if it might just be diverting my attention to the more acute symptoms. It's very tempting to believe the former, but I suspect it's more likely to be the latter.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:17 pm
by Woodchopper
Persistent neurologic symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in non‐hospitalized Covid‐19 “long haulers”

Mean age was 43.2±11.3 years, 70% were female and 48% were evaluated in televisits. The most frequent comorbidities were depression/anxiety (42%) and autoimmune disease (16%). The main neurologic manifestations were: “brain fog” (81%), headache (68%), numbness/tingling (60%), dysgeusia (59%), anosmia (55%), myalgias (55%), with only anosmia being more frequent in SARS‐CoV‐2+ than SARS‐CoV‐2‐ patients (37/50 [74%] vs (18/50 [36%]; p <0.001). Moreover, 85% also experienced fatigue. There was no correlation between time from disease onset and subjective impression of recovery. Both groups exhibited impaired quality of life in cognitive and fatigue domains. SARS‐CoV‐2+ patients performed worse in attention and working memory cognitive tasks compared to a demographic‐matched US population (T‐score 41.5 [37, 48.25] and 43 [37.5, 48.75], respectively; both p<0.01).
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acn3.51350

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:38 am
by Woodchopper

Background. In a proportion of patients recovered from the acute COVID-19 phase, a variable range of symptoms has been observed to persist for at least 6-months. Objectives. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-related symptoms 12-months after the onset of mild-to-moderate disease. Methods Prospective study based on structured questionnaires and additional outcomes.

Results 304/354 patients completing the survey at baseline also completed the follow-up interview (85.9%; median [range] age, 47 [18-76] years; 185 [60.9%] women). Persistence of at least one symptom at 12-months follow-up was reported by 161 patients (53.0%). The most commonly reported symptom of long COVID was felt tired (n=83, 27.3%), followed by smell or taste impairment (n=67, 22.0%), shortness of breath (n=39, 12.8%) and muscle pain (n=28, 9.2%). Being females (OR=1.64; 95% CI: 1.00-2.70), aged between 40-54 (OR=1.92; 95% CI: 1.07-3.44), having a BMI[ge]25 (OR=1.67; 95% CI: 1.00-2.78), and experiencing more symptoms during the acute phase of the disease (OR=8.71 for [ge]8 symptoms; 95% CI: 2.73-27.76) were associated with long COVID. Persistence of symptoms showed a significant impact on quality of life (p[lt];0.0001) and depression scale scores (p=0.0102).

Conclusion More than half of patients with previous mild-to-moderate symptomatic COVID-19 complained the persistence of at least one symptom 12-months after the onset of the illness.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 21255343v1

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 2:40 pm
by Woodchopper
Scientists haven’t figured out long Covid. Here are 5 of their best hypotheses.
From disturbing the gut microbiome to lingering in the brain, there are many ways the coronavirus might cause lasting symptoms.
https://www.vox.com/22369734/long-hauler-covid-vaccine

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:52 pm
by Herainestold
What are the numbers for vaccinated people getting Long Covid? Anybody know? I havent seen anything besides anecdote.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:30 am
by Martin_B
Herainestold wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:52 pm
What are the numbers for vaccinated people getting Long Covid? Anybody know? I havent seen anything besides anecdote.
At this stage I don't think there would be any numbers other than anecdote; we're still pretty early in the vaccination programme for Long Covid to be showing up.

Or did you mean how do the vaccines affect people with Long Covid already identified? I thought that the anecdata for that showed some improvement in symptoms, but I've not seen any specific studies into it.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:31 pm
by Herainestold
Martin_B wrote:
Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:30 am
Herainestold wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:52 pm
What are the numbers for vaccinated people getting Long Covid? Anybody know? I havent seen anything besides anecdote.
At this stage I don't think there would be any numbers other than anecdote; we're still pretty early in the vaccination programme for Long Covid to be showing up.

Or did you mean how do the vaccines affect people with Long Covid already identified? I thought that the anecdata for that showed some improvement in symptoms, but I've not seen any specific studies into it.
There's been a lot in the media lately about vaccinated people with covid. Not really surprising considering vaccination is only 80-90% effective.
Just wondering how that translates into long covid. More or less likely? Can you experience long covid without the severe symptoms of acute covid?
could there be a bunch of vaccinated long covid sufferers out there that have not been identified?

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 8:45 pm
by Woodchopper

At least 16,000 people in Sweden have had their health damaged long-term by a Covid-19 infection, reports Swedish Radio News.

Tomas Lindén at the Board of Health and Welfare says this shows we will live with consequences of the pandemic for a long time.

The figure does not differentiate between those who are suffering from serious symptoms such as trouble breathing and chest pains, and those with mild symptoms.
https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/at-lea ... term-covid

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:43 am
by Woodchopper

Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK: 4 June 2021

Estimates of the prevalence and characteristics of people with self-reported “long COVID”, and associated activity limitation, using UK Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey data to 2 May 2021.

At 2 May 2021, an estimated 1.0 million people living in private households in the UK (1.6%) were experiencing self-reported long COVID (symptoms persisting for more than four weeks after the first suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) infection that were not explained by something else).

The estimates presented in this analysis relate to self-reported long COVID, as experienced by study participants who responded to a representative survey, rather than clinically diagnosed ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 syndrome in the full population.

Of people with self-reported long COVID, 869,000 first had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least 12 weeks previously, and 376,000 first had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least one year previously.

Self-reported long COVID symptoms were adversely affecting the day-to-day activities of 650,000 people, with 192,000 of these individuals reporting that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been limited a lot.

Fatigue was the most common symptom reported as part of individuals' experience of long COVID (547,000 people), followed by shortness of breath (405,000), muscle ache (313,000), and difficulty concentrating (285,000).

As a proportion of the UK population, prevalence of self-reported long COVID was greatest in people aged 35 to 69 years, females, those living in the most deprived areas, those working in health or social care, and those with another activity-limiting health condition or disability; prevalence was lowest in people of Asian ethnic background.

The raised prevalence of self-reported long COVID among health and social care workers compared with those in other sectors was largely explained by other (non-employment) socio-demographic characteristics and the risk of initial infection.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... /4june2021

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:32 pm
by Woodchopper

Using conventional immunohistochemistry, we detected SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NP) in the colon, appendix, ileum, haemorrhoid, liver, gallbladder and lymph nodes (figure 1A–K) from five patients who recovered from COVID-19, ranging from 9 to 180 days after testing negative for SARS-CoV-2 (online supplemental table 1). Notably, when multiple tissues were obtained from one patient (patients 1 and 4), all the tissues showed the presence of the viral antigen, suggesting widespread multiorgan involvement of the viral infection.
https://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2021/ ... 021-324280

Not known whether the material found could be infectious.

Possible this could explain some long Covid symptoms. Either low a low level infection in multiple organs. Or bits of viroid that persist and cause inflammation.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:15 am
by Millennie Al
Woodchopper wrote:
Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:32 pm
Possible this could explain some long Covid symptoms. Either low a low level infection in multiple organs. Or bits of viroid that persist and cause inflammation.
A continuing low level infection might explain the anecdotal reports of vaccination helping with long covid.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:00 pm
by Woodchopper
The four most urgent questions about long COVID
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586- ... C6-jw4Et6E

Good detailed summary of what’s known and unknown.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 8:17 am
by Woodchopper

Network medicine links SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 infection to brain microvascular injury and neuroinflammation in dementia-like cognitive impairment

Background
Dementia-like cognitive impairment is an increasingly reported complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this complication remain unclear. A better understanding of causative processes by which COVID-19 may lead to cognitive impairment is essential for developing preventive and therapeutic interventions.

Methods
In this study, we conducted a network-based, multimodal omics comparison of COVID-19 and neurologic complications. We constructed the SARS-CoV-2 virus-host interactome from protein-protein interaction assay and CRISPR-Cas9-based genetic assay results and compared network-based relationships therein with those of known neurological manifestations using network proximity measures. We also investigated the transcriptomic profiles (including single-cell/nuclei RNA-sequencing) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) marker genes from patients infected with COVID-19, as well as the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 entry factors in the brains of AD patients not infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Results
We found significant network-based relationships between COVID-19 and neuroinflammation and brain microvascular injury pathways and processes which are implicated in AD. We also detected aberrant expression of AD biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of patients with COVID-19. While transcriptomic analyses showed relatively low expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry factors in human brain, neuroinflammatory changes were pronounced. In addition, single-nucleus transcriptomic analyses showed that expression of SARS-CoV-2 host factors (BSG and FURIN) and antiviral defense genes (LY6E, IFITM2, IFITM3, and IFNAR1) was elevated in brain endothelial cells of AD patients and healthy controls relative to neurons and other cell types, suggesting a possible role for brain microvascular injury in COVID-19-mediated cognitive impairment. Overall, individuals with the AD risk allele APOE E4/E4 displayed reduced expression of antiviral defense genes compared to APOE E3/E3 individuals.

Conclusion
Our results suggest significant mechanistic overlap between AD and COVID-19, centered on neuroinflammation and microvascular injury. These results help improve our understanding of COVID-19-associated neurological manifestations and provide guidance for future development of preventive or treatment interventions, although causal relationship and mechanistic pathways between COVID-19 and AD need future investigations.
https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articl ... 21-00850-3

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:14 pm
by raven
Woodchopper wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:00 pm
The four most urgent questions about long COVID
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586- ... C6-jw4Et6E

Good detailed summary of what’s known and unknown.
Thanks for that. My gut feeling was that some long Covid cases would be due to lingering organ damage (heart, lung, etc), and some to a vaguer post-viral syndrome akin to ME/CF - and if you just define it as having symptoms after x weeks, it'll cover both groups. I guess some people having neurological/cognitive deficits might be surprising, but given Covid can cause encaphalitis, just as flu can, may be not.

(As a side note: as far as I know we still don't know what caused 'sleepy sickness', encephalitis lethargica, which was contemporary with the 1918 flu epidemic. Could've been post-flu consequences, or something else.)

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:07 pm
by raven
Interesting stuff about gender & long Covid:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... long-covid

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:46 pm
by Woodchopper
raven wrote:
Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:07 pm
Interesting stuff about gender & long Covid:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... long-covid
Thanks for that, really interesting.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:32 am
by raven
You're welcome - nice to be the one posting links for a change! :D

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:34 am
by Woodchopper
Thread about Long Covid and neurological damage: https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/ ... 06692?s=20

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:55 pm
by shpalman

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:04 am
by raven
Sounds like we need something like the old convalescent homes. Rest, fresh air, healthy food. No pressure.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:50 pm
by Brightonian
Twitter thread on cognitive deficits from Long Covid:
https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1 ... 62432?s=19

Based on this Lancet paper:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ecli ... 2/fulltext

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 8:43 am
by Gfamily
Brightonian wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:50 pm
Twitter thread on cognitive deficits from Long Covid:
https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1 ... 62432?s=19

Based on this Lancet paper:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ecli ... 2/fulltext
What's worrying is that these deficits are not just associated with Long Covid, but are also found in people who consider themselves as recovered.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 8:55 am
by Woodchopper
Gfamily wrote:
Sat Jul 24, 2021 8:43 am
Brightonian wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:50 pm
Twitter thread on cognitive deficits from Long Covid:
https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1 ... 62432?s=19

Based on this Lancet paper:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ecli ... 2/fulltext
What's worrying is that these deficits are not just associated with Long Covid, but are also found in people who consider themselves as recovered.
Definitely.

It’ll be very important to see whether cognitive function improves over time (eg as it can in some cases after a stroke) or whether the damage is permanent. Also whether vaccination offers some protection via milder infection for those who are infected.

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:02 am
by Woodchopper

Re: Long Covid

Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:06 pm
by hakwright
I didn't see this reported previously in this discussion. SAGE publication indicates risk of long Covid is halved by double vaccination.
People who have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine are 50 percent less likely to suffer from long COVID, a UK scientific advisory body has said.
Long COVID includes lingering symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain and problems with concentration.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said UK government statistics found that “in all age groups the odds of experiencing symptoms for more than 28 days after post-vaccination infection was approximately halved by two vaccinations.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1903246/world