A team of Harvard researchers has shown, in a new study, that patients with long Covid have the same protein in plasma. This would therefore mean that there is an “active virus reservoir” in the body.
France has officially entered its 7th wave of Covid. Indeed, for a few weeks now, the number of contaminations has skyrocketed in the territory. Otherwise, the figures also highlight a rise in hospital admissions of Covid cases. Faced with this situation, the health authorities recommend that those most at risk go for an injection a second reminder of the anti-Covid vaccine. If the latter does not prevent the transmission of the virus, it nevertheless makes it possible to effectively reduce the risks of developing serious forms, like long Covids.
On this subject, a team of researchers from Harvard carried out a scientific study highlighting a new theory regarding the coronavirus. Apparently, the results of this famous study demonstrate that the Spike protein of Covid-19, which allows the virus to enter the cells of the human body, is present in the plasma of the majority of patients with long Covid. On the other hand, it is completely absent in people who no longer show any symptoms related to the virus. Therefore, this would mean that a “active virus reservoir“remains present in the body of patients suffering from long Covid.
Long Covids soon to be identified thanks to a simple blood test?
According to the scientists behind this new study, the virus present in the intestine could infiltrate into the plasma, thanks to a breach in the gastrointestinal barrier. As a reminder, this theory had already been put forward in another study from Stanford University, published between April and May 2022. Again, fragments of Covid-19 RNA were present in the majority of patients still suffering from the virus 7 months after their initial infection. If this famous theory ends up being confirmed, cases of long Covid could thus be identified by a simple blood test, which would make it possible to measure the presence of the Spike protein. Physicians would then have the possibility of implementing new treatment strategies that are more suited to their patients.
–