- A new preprint from Akiko Iwasaki’s lab at Yale University, David Putrino’s group at Mount Sinai, and other collaborators found distinct immunological changes in people with post-vaccine syndrome (PVS) from COVID-19 vaccines. Researchers collected blood samples from 42 people with PVS and 22 controls. They then compared the samples with blood from 134 people with Long COVID and 134 controls. The researchers found similar immune system changes in the people with Long COVID and those with PVS, such as reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus. The authors wrote that this study “helped generate hypotheses regarding the underlying pathobiology of this condition.” While the study is small and not yet peer-reviewed, it has garnered ample attention on social media, including from anti-vaccine commentators; the authors have emphasized in interviews that the vaccines are broadly safe, but that further PVS research is important to understand this potential safety issue and to help people with the syndrome.
- “We found the majority of participants with Long COVID did not experience resolution,” researchers concluded in a new Lancet Regional Health — Americas prospective study. The study assessed over 1,000 people with Long COVID over three years and found that only 2% of people had “resolved” Long COVID. People with the disease had worse physical and mental health, compared with those without Long COVID. “This is consistent with prior research demonstrating worse outcomes at 2-3 years among those with Long COVID,” the authors wrote.
- A Japanese survey study in Scientific Reports found that 19% of men hospitalized with COVID-19 experienced erectile dysfunction (ED) up to two years following their infection. The study included 609 men hospitalized in 2021. Participants in the study with ED had high breathlessness and fatigue scores, compared to those without ED. The authors suggested that ED was caused by sleep disturbances following COVID-19, as well as the mental health effects of COVID-19 and Long COVID. A past review also found that ED in men from COVID-19 could be caused by endothelial dysfunction and direct testicular damage.
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