As of: March 2, 2024, 2:43 p.m
By: Moritz Bletzinger
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What makes Long Covid so treacherous?
Yale researcher Akiko Iwasaki reveals what corona viruses do to the human body - long after an infection.
Frankfurt – insomnia, organ damage, depression.
Covid-19 can sometimes have serious consequences, even if the infection appears to be harmless.
Long after the corona pandemic, many people are struggling with Long Covid and research into the long-term consequences is ongoing.
Only recently did a study uncover the cause of “brain fog.”
Severe symptoms long after corona infection: Yale researcher Akiko Iwasaki explains the causes of long Covid
How can the disease continue to rage in the human body for months or even years?
Yale professor Akiko Iwasaki is studying exactly this question.
In an interview with
Spiegel
, the immunologist reveals what makes Long Covid so treacherous.
She speaks of four possibilities.
“On the one hand, persistent Sars-CoV-2 viruses, which continue to multiply in the body long after the acute corona infection, can trigger the symptoms by stimulating the immune system,” says Iwasaki.
This means: The disease does not heal completely, viruses persist and repeatedly cause smaller or larger outbreaks.
“Or, it could be an autoimmune reaction that was triggered by the corona infection.” This means: the immune system fights against its own body.
The third danger, according to Iwasaki: Herpes viruses can be reactivated.
They may still be in the body from previous infections.
“And fourthly, inflammatory processes could cause tissue damage,” adds Iwasaki.
Corona viruses can cause the immune system to overreact and cause chronic inflammation on the inner wall of blood vessels.
The result: The blood no longer circulates properly and organs do not receive enough oxygen.
Long Covid causes are not mutually exclusive
Problematic: The four causes are not mutually exclusive.
It can certainly happen that a person goes through several Long Covid processes at once.
“And for some patients, one cause probably leads to the next,” explains Iwasaki.
Long Covid can have various causes: Yale professor Akiko Iwasaki still wears a mask today out of caution.
© Yale School of Medicine/Shotstop/Imago
Will there soon be a targeted treatment against Long Covid?
Research from Switzerland gives hope for this.
A team has discovered a pattern in certain blood proteins of those affected.
The researchers are certain: “This opens up new ways to develop targeted therapies for those affected by Long Covid.”
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Corona expert still wears a mask today: “I can only recommend it”
The best recipe for not developing Long Covid in the first place: protection against Corona.
Studies have found that the risk of long-term effects increases cumulatively with each infection.
Long Covid expert Iwasaki is not afraid of the acute infection, but of the possible consequences.
She says: “Yes, I’m still afraid of Sars-CoV-2.” Masks can protect, of course even today.
Iwasaki relies on this “at conferences, on planes, and ideally always indoors where there are a lot of people.
I can only recommend it."