Scientists say some tests may be able to identify the markers of prolonged COVID symptoms in the future.
While there is no specific test to determine if someone is experiencing long COVID, a new studyused blood tests to find new insight into what biological markers are associated with this collection of mysterious conditions reported by millions of Americans.
Long COVID, defined in this study as persistent symptoms more than 6 weeks after infection, was associated with lower levels of a hormone called cortisol and had some distinct differences in certain immune cells and inflammatory markers circulating in the blood. "I think one of the most important findings of the paper is that it validates the symptoms people have by finding biological differences between them and healthy controls," Morris said.
This study was done on relatively few people, so researchers say more studies are needed to better understand the significance of these results more broadly. Still, they say this study helps scientists get one step closer to knowing more about long covid. If there are biological markers that are specific to long COVID, it could help confirm a diagnosis or help target treatments.
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