After infection: does the coronavirus stay in the body for months?

Created: 01/14/2022, 1:45 p.m

Long-Covid patients often suffer from shortness of breath.

© Elmar Gubisch/Imago

Anyone who suffers from long-Covid after being infected with the corona virus will probably carry the remains of the pathogen for a long time.

This is the conclusion of researchers in a new study.

After an infection with the coronavirus, virus material can still be detected in patients who have developed long-Covid even after a year.

Researchers present these results in a new study that was published in a preliminary version on Wednesday (01/12/2022) and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Dogs sniff out ongoing Covid infection

As part of the study, the scientists took

and presented them to specially trained sniffer dogs that are trained to detect Covid infections.

In about half of all rehearsals, the dogs struck.

In the control group, which consisted of individuals who had not previously survived a Covid infection, the dogs did not react.

Samples were randomly placed in odor detection cones and presented to at least two dogs.

Read more:

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD)

sees the results as an indication of ongoing infection in long-Covid patients.

In the study, the researchers also say that with simple,

, this infection could still be detectable after a year.

You might also be interested in:

Long-Covid according to Omikron: Effect still unclear

As early as December, a study by the Mainz University Medical Center on Long-Covid* showed that 40 percent of those infected with Corona still have Long-Covid symptoms six months after infection, regardless of the severity of the infection - i.e.

.

How the omicron variant, which according to experts is more contagious but causes milder courses, affects the long-Covid problem is not yet clear.

Source: Screening for SARS-CoV-2 persistence in Long COVID patients using sniffer dogs and scents from axillary sweats samples