- An estimated 36% of people with a documented SARS-CoV-2 infection worldwide have experienced Long COVID, according to a new systematic review that synthesized over 400 studies. The authors estimated that 29% of Americans with prior COVID-19 cases had experienced Long COVID, which is close to a finding from the U.S. Census’ Household Pulse Survey (29.8% as of September 2024); that survey has since stopped asking Long COVID questions. The new study — which we covered as a preprint in January — found that South America had the highest prevalence of any continent, at 51%. The authors wrote that this study emphasized the “substantial and lasting impact of Long COVID on public health policy.”
- New funding will help advance a potential low-cost diagnostic test for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), ME advocacy and research groups in the U.K. recently announced. The funding will build on prior research into the electrical differences in the blood of people with ME, implementing findings from ME researcher Ron Davis’ “nanoneedle,” a type of test that uses a tiny, electric needle to locate differences in white blood cells of people with ME. “We will also investigate the biological basis for the electrical changes, as this could provide scientific leads to help researchers develop new treatments,” one of the researchers said in a press release.
- The SPEAR study group, a group of leading Long COVID researchers convened by the biotech company Invivyd, has proposed a potential Long COVID clinical trial with the company’s next-generation monoclonal antibody, VYD2311. VYD2311 builds on the company’s current COVID-19 prevention product, Pemgarda. Presenting on behalf of the group at last week’s RECOVER-Treating Long COVID workshop, David Putrino proposed a 400-person clinical trial for participants who have viral persistence, as identified with a specific assay. “In my personal opinion, the best time for the NIH to have invested in large-scale trials in medications such as monoclonals that can target persistent antigens was in 2021,” Putrino said. “The second-best time is right now.”
