It’s never easy having a real problem some people won’t accept as genuine. Long COVID is a case in point because it’s hard to prove, and people could accuse us of pretending. Others may believe it’s ‘in the mind’ and tell us to snap out of it. Therefore, it’s great news there’s a blood test for long COVID in the offing. Especially as Study Finds tells us two in three coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms, end up battling long COVID.
What We Know Now About This Discovery
Researchers at University of Cambridge completed a pilot study at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire, England. Their 85 subjects all had long-lasting, lingering symptoms of long COVID.
The researchers obtained blood samples from them on admission, and in follow-up intervals for several months. Then they discovered cytokine molecules in their samples. They knew T-cells in our immune systems produce these regularly in response to infections.
What’s more, those T-cells remain in affected people’s blood for a long time. But the researchers discovered a second cytokine type in the blood samples too. They wondered whether those biomarkers could be fueling joint pain, chest pain, and loss of smell or taste.
How a Blood Test for Long COVID Could be Helpful
We currently have no reliable way of diagnosing long COVID, study co-leader Dr. Nyarie Sithole told Fox 4 News. If we could do this accurately, we could say to patients ‘yes, you have a biomarker and so you have long COVID’. We believe this will help allay some of their fears and anxieties.’ And put misconceptions aside because of greater certainty.
Fox 4 News explains how long COVID patients ‘generally feel abandoned and dismissed by healthcare providers’. And they may receive limited or conflicting advice. We hope there’s a blood test available for long COVID real soon. And that it helps remove the stigma some of these patients may be experiencing as we post.
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Preview Image: Cytokine Biomarkers in Blood
