Posted on Jul 13, 2022
Long-haul COVID might be caused by lingering, barely detectable spike proteins, study shows
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Long-haul COVID has been a medical anomaly since the beginning of the pandemic, but a new study found that spike protein could be the cause.
Spike protein — which sticks out of the virus molecules — was found in most of the long COVID patients studied by researchers like Dr. David Walt of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Spike protein — which sticks out of the virus molecules — was found in most of the long COVID patients studied by researchers like Dr. David Walt of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Long-haul COVID might be caused by lingering, barely detectable spike proteins, study shows
Posted from wbur.org
Medical
Health
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Boston
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Though COVID-19 is a novel virus, experts draw parallels between long COVID and other illnesses like influenza or Lyme disease. Treatments for the lingering virus may be possible, as evidenced in studies of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
“[Multisystem inflammatory syndrome patients] have a reservoir of the virus in their [gastrointestinal] tract,” Walt says. “We can actually treat them with a drug that is able to inhibit the transport of this spike protein into their bloodstream.”
Still, in many cases of long-term infection, physicians are only able to mitigate symptoms without eliminating the virus at the crux of the issue. But Walt says he and his colleagues at Brigham and Women’s are working on it.
“If we can knock down the virus and the viral reservoir in these patients, we may be able to have them recover from their symptoms,” he says. “That may be using one of the readily available antiviral drugs, or it may require longer administration of these same kinds of drugs to get rid of the virus permanently.”...
..."Though COVID-19 is a novel virus, experts draw parallels between long COVID and other illnesses like influenza or Lyme disease. Treatments for the lingering virus may be possible, as evidenced in studies of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
“[Multisystem inflammatory syndrome patients] have a reservoir of the virus in their [gastrointestinal] tract,” Walt says. “We can actually treat them with a drug that is able to inhibit the transport of this spike protein into their bloodstream.”
Still, in many cases of long-term infection, physicians are only able to mitigate symptoms without eliminating the virus at the crux of the issue. But Walt says he and his colleagues at Brigham and Women’s are working on it.
“If we can knock down the virus and the viral reservoir in these patients, we may be able to have them recover from their symptoms,” he says. “That may be using one of the readily available antiviral drugs, or it may require longer administration of these same kinds of drugs to get rid of the virus permanently.”...
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