Long COVID has affected millions of people with its debilitating effects such as fatigue, brain fog, memory loss, and problems with concentration, to name a few. While there is still limited understanding of the disease, the medical field is doing what it can to gain more knowledge. 

Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, for example, has discovered that “the data (on long COVID) are coming through thick and fast and says that, of the hundreds of millions of people that have been infected with this virus, 10%-20% of will have long-term persistent symptoms.”

Some of the more serious complications that doctors are exploring include: 

• Organ damage caused by the coronavirus infection 
• Immune system dysfunction following an infection or a reactivation of the virus
• Risk factors, such as age, weight, and gender

A long-COVID diagnostic test is currently in the works and would help researchers explore the common characteristics among those with a positive long-COVID test.

How Feasible Is a Test for Long COVID?

Dr. Altmann and a team at Imperial College are investigating long COVID through blood samples of those who have it to better understand the cause. They previewed early findings on BBC’s “Panorama” program on July 12th, including the discovery that irregular antibodies were found in the blood samples in those suffering from long COVID.

These irregular antibodies or “autoantibodies” emerge when our antibodies begin to attack our healthy cells, in addition to viral cells, due to a cause not thoroughly understood at this time.

It is important to note that only a small number of blood samples were analyzed in the pilot study. Additionally, the researchers found that autoantibodies were not present in comparative blood samples of people who had fully recovered from the virus or had never tested positive for initial coronavirus infection.

Finding the irregular antibodies may offer doctors a simple diagnostic test for long COVID in those with present symptoms and consequently influence treatment and recovery plans for patients. Dr. Altmann explains that these findings are not yet conclusive, but the research yielded promising results that can be a foundation for further investigation. 

“The pilot data that we have says that you really can pick up different patterns of autoimmunity in people who have long Covid,” said Dr. Altmann. He also envisions the creation of a simple blood test that could diagnose long COVID within six months.

Ellyatt, H. (2021b, July 13). Long Covid? Soon there could be a test to show if you have it. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/long-covid-test-could-soon-be-available-researchers-hope.html 

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions.