In a recent study published in the journal Allergy , a team of researchers in Austria conducted a longitudinal analysis among individuals who had not been vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to understand the changes in humoral and cellular immunity over ten months after the first severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Study: Differential decline of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody levels, innate and adaptive immune cells, and shift of Th1/inflammatory to Th2 serum cytokine levels long after first COVID-19 . Image Credit: ker_vii / Shutterstock Background The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most severe public health calamities in the last decade, causing global morbidity and mortality in the millions.
Furthermore, emerging research indicates that the disease causes long-term sequelae lasting months after recovering from the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. These post- COVID-19 symptoms , also called post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) or long coronavirus disease (long COVID), impact various organ systems other than the pulmonary organs, even resulting in neurocognitive impairments and cardiovascular and musculoskeletal symptoms. Recent studies have focused on understanding long COVID's risk factors and mechanisms.
Furthermore, while long-term sequelae have been observed in other viral infections as well, such as mumps, measles, influenza, and Epstein-Barr virus infections, PASC is unique in its ability to affect multiple organ .