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The only pattern in so-called long COVID is there is no pattern, as it appears to affect even those who experienced more mild disease, specialists told clinicians on a CDC call on Thursday. Long COVID is nebulous, particularly because it can overlap with other complications of COVID-19 illness, such as hospitalization complications and post-intensive care syndrome, or even multisystem inflammatory disorder, said Alfonso Hernandez-Romieu, MD, of the CDC.
And there is no standardized definition of the condition, either. Persistent severe fatigue, headache, brain fog, and mild cognitive impairment are some of the most commonly presenting symptoms, and patients tend to present more than 4 weeks after illness. However, Hernandez-Romieu noted that these symptoms can be independent of disease severity, and can be newly occurring or recurring symptoms.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have tried to understand and track SARS-CoV-2 without a proper parts list. Much of the research emphasis has.
By Jim Shelton
January 28, 2021
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Left to right; Nicholas Huston, Han Wan, Madison Strine, and Rafael Araujo Tavares working in Anna Marie Pyle’s lab. (Photo: Dan Renzetti)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have tried to understand and track SARS-CoV-2 without a proper parts list.
Much of the research emphasis has been on proteins such as the “spike” proteins that cover the COVID-19 virus and attach themselves to human cells. Scientists continue to study how these proteins function and interact.
But Yale biochemist Anna Marie Pyle says there is also much to be gained by understanding the RNA of the virus and the structures within it. The “shapes” formed by the RNA in a viral genome influence its efficiency at copying itself, making proteins, and packing into the viral particle, which is a key factor in pathogenicity.