4 ms·
Coronaviruses do a weird thing where their viral RNA persists in cells long after the initial infection. [1] No one knows if this has a bearing on long COVID or
by f38zf5vdt 5y ago
Coronaviruses do a weird thing where their viral RNA persists in cells long after the initial infection. [1] No one knows if this has a bearing on long COVID or not.
[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-021-01145-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-021-01145-z
- vintermann 5y agoIt's not a terribly weird thing for a virus to do, but as far as I know (just an interested amateur) coronaviruses can't use this to stay latent.
- f38zf5vdt 5y agoWe don't really know. A recent manuscript submitted to Nature shows minute persistence in various tissues as long as 230 days or more post-infection. [1] RNA is fragile, if the infection is completely cleared or not integrated into the genome in some way we would not expect it to persist. [1] https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1139035/v1_covered.pdf?c=1640020576 https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1139035/v1_covere... (Figure 1)
- howinteresting 5y agoI would be hesitant to generalize from existing coronaviruses to SARS-2. As the sibling comment points out, SARS-2 has been shown to persist in every organ of the body well after initial infection.
- jonnycomputer 5y agoYeah, I don't trust the viruses not to do sneaky shit. Not at all.