Scientists are moving closer to biomarkers, or clear biological indicators, of Long COVID. A new study—posted this week in Nature ahead of full publication—identifies clear differences between blood samples of people who have the condition and those who don’t.
Sources and updates for the week of September 3 include a new CDC updates page, Long COVID research, and people who are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) is under fire for censoring comments from patients on social media — the latest in a trend of heavy criticism from people living with Long COVID for failing to listen to patients and implement their input into its $1.15 billion study, RECOVER.
Last week, the National Institutes of Health and Duke University announced five Long COVID clinical trials as part of the NIH’s RECOVER initiative. This might sound like an exciting milestone for the millions of people dealing with long-term symptoms—but in fact, experts and long-haulers are disappointed by the trials, I learned when covering this news for MuckRock and STAT News.
Ed Yong, a widely-admired science journalist, recently announced that he’s leaving his position at The Atlantic after eight years at the publication. He also published the latest in a series of articles explaining the challenges of Long COVID, a subject that he’s become well-known for covering.
Sources and updates for the week of July 30 include new papers about wastewater surveillance, Long COVID’s economic impacts, outdoor transmission, and more.
RECOVER, the U.S.’s largest initiative to understand Long COVID, published a major scientific study this week in JAMA. The paper goes over key Long COVID symptoms and other findings from nearly 10,000 adults who have joined the project’s research cohort. Its authors propose a new, more specific definition for Long COVID, which will be used in future studies from this project.
In December 2020, Congress gave the National Institutes of Health $1.2 billion to study Long COVID. But it’s been more than two years, and the RECOVER initiative doesn’t have much to show for that money—besides a growing number of frustrated people in the Long COVID community.