3 ms·

How much do we understand today about the physical cause of “Long Covid” and how covid causes it? Is this an accumulation of lasting damage to assorted organs

How much do we understand today about the physical cause of “Long Covid” and how covid causes it? Is this an accumulation of lasting damage to assorted organs (including brain) and the direct and higher order effects of that? Or is there some ongoing infection to be combatted?

thenerdhead 3y ago
Here's 4.5 hours of content from various experts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278vwGkFXRM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278vwGkFXRM There's many more of these types of videos by the NIH and other large groups too. There are also reviews here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2 Short answer is...we somewhat have hypotheses around the cause. We don't know much about the lasting damage yet. Many folks who have long covid do not have any organ damage from acute infection. But the big question is if a persistent infection causes damage over the duration.
btbuildem 3y ago
After the acute phase, the virus remains in the body -- in that way, it's like HPV or HIV. In some people it's dormant, in others it weakens and wastes certain organs or entire systems (like the T-cell depletion, weakening the immune system). There is also some evidence that some of the significant mutations / new strains arose not from "natural selection" via transmission, but from prolonged mutation in a single host.
- thenerdhead 3y ago
  > There is also some evidence that some of the significant mutations / new strains arose not from "natural selection" via transmission, but from prolonged mutation in a single host. I have read a lot of research on this topic and I have not seen this suggestion, rather I have only seen the neutral (that it hasn't mutated from persistence/potential replication in a host). Do you have a link to a study that suggests this?
  - btbuildem 3y ago
    I came across a couple of journal articles, if you keep digging there's more. I haven't found a longitudinal study yet. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9241677/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9241677/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35996593/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35996593/
    - thenerdhead 3y ago
      Thank you!
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

thenerdhead 3y ago

Here's 4.5 hours of content from various experts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278vwGkFXRM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=278vwGkFXRM There's many more of these types of videos by the NIH and other large groups too. There are also reviews here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2 Short answer is...we somewhat have hypotheses around the cause. We don't know much about the lasting damage yet. Many folks who have long covid do not have any organ damage from acute infection. But the big question is if a persistent infection causes damage over the duration.

btbuildem 3y ago

After the acute phase, the virus remains in the body -- in that way, it's like HPV or HIV. In some people it's dormant, in others it weakens and wastes certain organs or entire systems (like the T-cell depletion, weakening the immune system). There is also some evidence that some of the significant mutations / new strains arose not from "natural selection" via transmission, but from prolonged mutation in a single host.

thenerdhead 3y ago
> There is also some evidence that some of the significant mutations / new strains arose not from "natural selection" via transmission, but from prolonged mutation in a single host. I have read a lot of research on this topic and I have not seen this suggestion, rather I have only seen the neutral (that it hasn't mutated from persistence/potential replication in a host). Do you have a link to a study that suggests this?
- btbuildem 3y ago
  I came across a couple of journal articles, if you keep digging there's more. I haven't found a longitudinal study yet. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9241677/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9241677/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35996593/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35996593/
  - thenerdhead 3y ago
    Thank you!
deleted 3y ago
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