Research updates, February 24

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February 24, 2026

A photo of a Keith Haring art mural captures the bright red figures on a concrete wall. The figures include a vaccine, scissor people cutting a snake, and many of his iconic human figures throughout the scene as the lift the snake, lie down with "x"s over them, and hug one another. — Keith Haring HIV/AIDS mural in Barcelona, Spain, Punk Toad / CC By 2.0

SARS-CoV-2 reinfections significantly increase the risk of Long COVID in children, a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) RECOVER study found. Published in The Lancet, the paper analyzed the electronic health records of over 400,000 children, comparing the records of children who had one versus two documented infections between January 2022 and October 2023. Children with two infections were about twice as likely to have Long COVID as those with one. “Our findings align with emerging evidence on immune waning post-infection,” the authors concluded, adding that this study shows the “importance of ongoing clinical vigilance, mechanistic research, and strategies to mitigate reinfection-related risk.”

A large cohort study found further evidence that people with HIV have a significantly increased risk of Long COVID following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study was published in Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and included the electronic health records of 800,000 South Carolinians. Compared with people without HIV, those with the virus faced a 29% higher risk of Long COVID. The authors hypothesized that people with HIV may be at higher risk because of chronic immune activation, even if they were undergoing antiretroviral therapy.

An in-depth whole genome sequencing study called Sequence ME and Long COVID is seeking to raise £20 million ($23.6 million USD) in funding. Based in the U.K., the study will include 18,000 people with ME and Long COVID and “aims to unlock deeper genetic insights that could accelerate the development of diagnostics and future life-changing treatments.” Co-led by DecodeME’s Chris Ponting and building on that study’s prior work, this new phase will recruit participants with Long COVID and use preexisting samples from DecodeME participants. So far, the study has received funding from the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID* and Complex Disorders Alliance.

*Editor’s note: The Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID has also supported The Sick Times. Our newsroom operates independently of financial supporters.