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Published: Jul 11, 2022
By Tristan Manalac
Scientists from the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital have found that the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the plasma could be a hallmark of long COVID. These results show that the virus can linger in the body of patients who suffer from prolonged symptoms.
The data, published in June on the preprint server medRxiv, revealed that of the 37 participating patients with persistent symptoms, 65% had detectable levels of viral antigens in their plasma samples. The most common of these was the spike protein, which was detected in 60% of all long COVID models. Meanwhile, the spike protein was absent in the plasma of patients who didn’t suffer from prolonged COVID-19 symptoms.
The study enrolled a total of 63 patients who had recovered from COVID-19. To look for biomarkers associated with long COVID, blood samples were collected at least twice over the year after each participant's first positive swab test. The findings have yet to be peer-reviewed. ...
By Tristan Manalac
Scientists from the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital have found that the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the plasma could be a hallmark of long COVID. These results show that the virus can linger in the body of patients who suffer from prolonged symptoms.
The data, published in June on the preprint server medRxiv, revealed that of the 37 participating patients with persistent symptoms, 65% had detectable levels of viral antigens in their plasma samples. The most common of these was the spike protein, which was detected in 60% of all long COVID models. Meanwhile, the spike protein was absent in the plasma of patients who didn’t suffer from prolonged COVID-19 symptoms.
The study enrolled a total of 63 patients who had recovered from COVID-19. To look for biomarkers associated with long COVID, blood samples were collected at least twice over the year after each participant's first positive swab test. The findings have yet to be peer-reviewed. ...