ADVERTISEMENT
COVID-19 Virus Found in Some Patients More Than a Year After Infection
SARS-CoV-2 can remain in the blood and tissue of some patients for more than a year after symptoms of acute COVID-19 have resolved, according to findings from a pair of studies presented in March at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver, Colorado.
“These two studies provide some of the strongest evidence so far that COVID antigens can persist in some people, even though we think they have normal immune responses,” said Michael Peluso, MD, an infectious disease researcher in the school of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who led both studies.
One study tested for the COVID-19 spike protein in blood samples from 171 people with a history of COVID-19. The results showed the virus was still present up to 14 months after infection in some patients.
The likelihood of detecting SARS-CoV-2 was almost twice as high in people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 than in those who were not. It was also higher in patients who reported being sicker but not hospitalized.
“As a clinician, these associations convince me that we are on to something, because it makes sense that someone who had been sicker with COVID would have more antigen that can stick around,” Dr Peluso said.
In another study, investigators detected viral RNA in tissue samples up to 2 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The viral fragments were found in the connective tissue where immune cells are located, which suggests they were activating the immune system, researchers said.
More research is necessary to determine whether persistent viral fragments drive long COVID and its associated risks, such as heart attack and stroke. Additionally, researchers are investigating whether treatment with monoclonal antibodies or antiviral drugs could remove the virus and improve the health of patients with long COVID.
“There is a lot more work to be done,” Dr Peluso said, “but I feel like we are making progress in really understanding the long-term consequences of this infection.”
Reference
COVID-19 virus can stay in the body more than a year after infection, research finds. News release. University of California, San Francisco; March 7, 2024. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-covid-virus-stay-body-year.html
