A new Franco-Portuguese study explains why some patients suffer from persistent symptoms after infection with Covid-19, what is commonly called long Covid.
Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Doctor’s Daily today discusses the results of a new study that explains why some patients have persistent symptoms, more than a month after being infected with Covid-19, the so-called long Covid.
franceinfo: Before telling us about this study, what is a long Covid?
Martin Ducret : It is the persistence, more than a month after infection with Covid-19, of one or more symptoms from a long list, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain or difficulty concentrating. . The evolution of these symptoms is often fluctuating, but with a tendency to decrease and disappear over time, in a majority of patients.
You should know that around 10% of patients infected with the SARS-COV 2 coronavirus have a long Covid. And currently, it is not known precisely why these patients have this disease, and there is no test to diagnose it.
And precisely a Franco-Portuguese study comes to provide explanations on the mechanism of the long Covid?
Yes exactly. In this study, 3 markers of the body’s defense system were present in excess in 80% of patients with long Covid. Among these 3 markers, there are defense cells, called T-CD8 lymphocytes, and proteins that limit the spread of the virus, interferons, and antibodies specific for SARS-COV 2.
“The presence of these 3 markers, explains Jérôme Estaquier, research director at Inserm and Paris Cité University, and one of the authors of the studyproves that the coronavirus is still present in the body, in particular in the lining of the intestine. It is as if SARS-COV 2, after passing through the nose and then through the lungs, came to nest in the digestive tract, to continue to manifest itself.
And would these discoveries make it possible to develop a diagnostic test for long Covid?
Yes, it is a hope aroused by this study. Many patients who suffer from post-Covid symptoms would like to have a test that proves to them the existence of this disease. A serological test for example.
And if we go further, perhaps an antiviral type drug could be developed to dislodge the lingering coronavirus. Especially since, faced with the symptoms of the long Covid, there are, to date, not many solutions to offer patients.
