Top scientists join forces to study leading theory behind long COVID
(VOVWORLD) - Top scientists from leading academic centers in the US are banding together to answer a key question about the root cause of long COVID - whether fragments of the coronavirus persist in the tissues of some individuals.
 A patient suffering from Long COVID is examined in the post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) clinic of Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 21, 2022. Picture taken February 21, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS) |
The effort, known as the Long Covid Research Initiative, aims to streamline research and quickly pivot to clinical trials of potential treatments.
By sharing diverse skill sets and resources, the group hopes to uncover the scientific underpinnings of the disease and use that to design evidence-based trials.
Long COVID is a complex, poorly understood, disabling condition that can last for many months after an initial COVID infection, leaving many of its sufferers unable to work.
Currently, there are no proven treatments for long COVID, which affects more than 150 million people globally.
A growing body of evidence points to the presence of virus in tissues that continue to provoke a response from the immune system.