Medical breakthrough could help COVID-19 'long haulers'
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Updated: 11:52 AM EST Mar 11, 2021
Sanika Dange
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Updated: 11:52 AM EST Mar 11, 2021
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BREAKTHROUGH WHICH COULD HELP COVID LONG HAULERS FINALLY GET ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY. >> I GET DIZZY, I FEEL LIKE MY EYES ARE GOING CROSSEYED AND I START THROWING UP. SANIKA: IT’S A TERM STEADILY GAINING STEAM IN THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY. ANITA NOTTE IS JOINING A GROWING GROUP OF LONG HAULERS. >> THERE ARE WEEKS THAT IT GOES, I FEEL LIKE IT’S GOING BACK, I FEEL LIKE I HAD IT AGAIN. SANIKA: IN CONTRAST TO CHRONIC ACUTE COVID-19 SYNDROME WHICH PRESENTS ITSELF 3 WEEKS AFTER A COVID-19 DIAGNOSIS, LONG HAULERS CONTINUE TO SEE SIDE EFFECTS AT LEAST 12 WEEKS AFTER. BOTH ANITA AND SAUL HAVE BEEN BATTLING SYMPTOMS FOR MORE THAN SIX MONTHS. >> NOW MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING WITH, ESPECIALLY WITH FATIGUE, FATIGUE IS THE NUMBER ONE SYMPTOM I FIND. SANIKA: RECENTLY THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOUND ABOUT A THIRD OF THOSE WHO SAW MILD COVID-19 SYMPTOMS ARE NOW LONG HAULERS, THE SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO MAY NOT HAVE GOTTEN TESTED LAST YEAR AND ARE NOW LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. AN ANTIBODY TEST CAN ONLY CONFIRM COVID-19 WHILE ANTIBODIES ARE STILL IN YOUR SYSTEM. THAT’S WHERE THE NEW T-CELL TEST COMES IN, A BLOOD TEST IN WHICH DNA IS EXTRACTED, THEN SEQUENCED THROUGH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. >> THEY ARE THE FRONT LINE SOLDIERS, THEY’RE THE FIRST ONES TO ATTACK COVID-19 OR ANY VIRUS ATTACKING YOUR BODY, AND THEY LAST FOR A VERY LONG TIME AS A MEMORY CELL. IT’S LIKE DOING A FORENSIC TEST BECAUSE WE FIND THE FINGERPRINTS OF COVID-19 ON T CELLS WHICH WE COULD NOT FIND IN ANTIBODIES. SANI