- A new preprint from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RECOVER study found that SARS-CoV-2 reinfections may increase the risk of Long COVID by about 35%. The study assessed the electronic health records of 424,616 people who had at least one SARS-CoV-2 infection, comparing those who had documented reinfections with those who did not. They found an 11.1% cumulative rate of new Long COVID cases following reinfection. “Our primary result, that reinfections lead to a greater risk of Long COVID,” follows prior studies with similar results, the study’s authors wrote. In a sub analysis, they found that recent vaccination may slightly decrease the risk of Long COVID following reinfections, but that more research is needed.
- A new review article in Ageing Research Reviews found that persistent infections from viruses, bacteria, fungus, and parasites can accelerate human aging. The authors, Amy Proal and Michael VanElzakker, assessed the mechanisms by which pathogens can accelerate aging, including oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. These processes particularly happen “under conditions of inflammation, stress, or immune dysregulation,” the authors wrote, “which allow latent pathogens to increase their activity in the face of the host immune response.”
- A new Long COVID clinical trial to test the immunotherapy drug Anktiva was announced this week by the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Medicine. Anktiva is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat a form of bladder cancer. The phase 2 trial aims to enroll 40 participants at its study site in El Segundo, California. Study contact: Kamin Personett, kamin.personett@immunitybio.com. The study also has an inquiry form for potential participants.
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[…] one of two patient advocates on both panels, he brought up the importance of people with Long COVID avoiding reinfection. Several speakers also referred to the pandemic in the past tense, implicitly dismissing the […]
[…] David Ho, who pioneered this combination approach, told me that combination treatments would be key for Long COVID, just as they were for HIV. Recent HIV research has pushed this idea even further, including one study with an immune system–modulating drug that scientists are also exploring for Long COVID. […]