Nearly three years into the pandemic, scientists are still trying to figure out why some people get long COVID and why a small portion have lasting symptoms.
Many studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that women are more likely than men to develop long COVID.Women’s immune systems generally mount stronger reactions to viruses, bacteria, parasites and other germs, noted Sabra Klein, a Johns Hopkins professor who studies immunity.
“I don’t think we should ignore that,” she said. Biology and behavior are probably both at play, Klein said.It may thus be no coincidence that it was three women who helped shine the first light on long COVID. Inflammation caused by coronavirus infection can activate herpes viruses, which remain in the body after causing an acute infection, said Dr. Timothy Henrich, a virus expert at the University of California, San Francisco.
Some scientists also believe that Epstein-Barr triggers chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that bears many similarities to long COVID, but that also is unproven.Obesity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 infections and scientists are trying to understand why. Scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center are studying leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells that can influence the body’s immune response and promote inflammation.They plan to study whether injections of a manufactured antibody could reduce leptin levels — and in turn inflammation from coronavirus infections or long COVID.
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