Category: Overlapping Illnesses

Low Prevalence of Interferon-α Autoantibodies in People Experiencing Long COVID Symptoms

Abstract:

Interferon (IFN)-specific autoantibodies have been implicated in severe COVID-19 and have been proposed as a potential driver of the persistent symptoms characterizing Long COVID, a type of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). We report than only two of 215 SARS-CoV-2 convalescent participants tested over 394 timepoints, including 121 people experiencing Long COVID symptoms, had detectable IFN-α2 antibodies. Both had been hospitalized during the acute phase of the infection. These data suggest that persistent anti-IFN antibodies, although a potential driver of severe COVID-19, are unlikely to contribute to Long COVID symptoms in the post-acute phase of the infection.

Source: Peluso MJ, Mitchell A, Wang CY, Takahashi S, Hoh R, Tai V, Durstenfeld MS, Hsue PY, Kelly JD, Martin JN, Wilson MR, Greenhouse B, Deeks SG, DeRisi JL, Henrich TJ. Low Prevalence of Interferon-α Autoantibodies in People Experiencing Long COVID Symptoms. J Infect Dis. 2022 Sep 12:jiac372. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac372. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36089700.  https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiac372/6696027 (Full text available as PDF file)

Post-acute COVID syndrome (long COVID): What should radiographers know and the potential impact for imaging services

Abstract:

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented health crisis resulting in over 6 million deaths worldwide, a figure, which continues to grow. In addition to the excess mortality, there are individuals who recovered from the acute stages, but suffered long-term changes in their health post COVID-19, commonly referred to as long COVID. It is estimated there are currently 1.8 million long COVID sufferers by May 2022 in the UK alone. The aim of this narrative literature review is to explore the signs, symptoms and diagnosis of long COVID and the potential impact on imaging services.

Key findings: Long COVID is estimated to occur in 9.5% of those with two doses of vaccination and 14.6% if those with a single dose or no vaccination. Long COVID is defined by ongoing symptoms lasting for 12 or more weeks post acute infection. Symptoms are associated with reductions in the quality of daily life and may involve multisystem manifestations or present as a single symptom.

Conclusion: The full impact of long COVID on imaging services is yet to be realised, but there is likely to be significant increased demand for imaging, particularly in CT for the assessment of lung disease. Educators will need to include aspects related to long COVID pathophysiology and imaging presentations in curricula, underpinned by the rapidly evolving evidence base.

Implications for practice: Symptoms relating to long COVID are likely to become a common reason for imaging, with a particular burden on Computed Tomography services. Planning, education and updating protocols in line with a rapidly emerging evidence base is going to be essential.

Source: Alghamdi F, Owen R, Ashton REM, Obotiba AD, Meertens RM, Hyde E, Faghy MA, Knapp KM, Rogers P, Strain WD. Post-acute COVID syndrome (long COVID): What should radiographers know and the potential impact for imaging services. Radiography (Lond). 2022 Sep 12:S1078-8174(22)00119-5. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2022.08.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36109264; PMCID: PMC9468096. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9468096/ (Full text)

What we already know about the Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A narrative review

Abstract:

As an increasingly number of patients recover from the acute COVID-19 disease, it has been observed that many face long lasting symptoms, referred as the Post-COVID-19 Syndrome. This article covers the most common signs and symptoms of this syndrome, its general aspects, and important complementary exams related to the disease. The manuscript is a narrative review, gathering new evidence published about the topic.

The most common symptoms of the Post-COVID-19 Syndrome are chronic fatigue, breathlessness, depression or anxiety, pain, cough and alopecia, and many of them are still present 6 months after hospital discharge from the acute disease, depending on the gravity of the illness. It is important for patients to maintain medical follow-up to access severity of the symptoms and choose whether further investigation is necessary. There are some treatments available to some minimize the long-lasting burden of the syndrome, and the physician should access the need for treatment with the patient.

As a new disease, there is a lot of new evidence being produced rapidly, but no up-to-date protocol has already been published. Even with the vaccinations campaigns, the burden of the pandemic is yet out of sight, as it still killing thousands daily, and those who have recovered from the acute COVID-19 illness can present chronic symptoms. Therefore, we recommend health professionals to continuously up-to-date themselves, as new information is added to make better clinical decisions.

Source: RESENDE, M. D. de .; RESENDE, G. D. de .; RIQUIERI, L. N. .; SANTOS, A. F. A. dos .; CASTRO, A. C. A. de .; ROCHA, M. da C. . What we already know about the Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A narrative review. Research, Society and Development, [S. l.], v. 11, n. 12, p. e108111234143, 2022. DOI: 10.33448/rsd-v11i12.34143. https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/34143

The majority of severe COVID-19 patients develop anti-cardiac autoantibodies

Abstract:

Severe cases of COVID-19 are characterized by an inflammatory burst, which is accompanied by multiorgan failure. The elderly population has higher risk for severe or fatal outcome for COVID-19. Inflammatory mediators facilitate the immune system to combat viral infection by producing antibodies against viral antigens. Several studies reported that the pro-inflammatory state and tissue damage in COVID-19 also promotes autoimmunity by autoantibody generation. We hypothesized that a subset of these autoantibodies targets cardiac antigens.

Here we aimed to detect anti-cardiac autoantibodies in severe COVID-19 patients during hospitalization. For this purpose, 104 COVID-19 patients were recruited, while 40 heart failure patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and 20 patients with severe aortic stenosis served as controls. Patients were tested for anti-cardiac autoantibodies, using human heart homogenate as a bait. Follow-up samples were available in 29 COVID-19 patients. Anti-cardiac autoantibodies were detected in 68% (71 out of 104) of severe COVID-19 patients.

Overall, 39% of COVID-19 patients had anti-cardiac IgG autoantibodies, while 51% had anti-cardiac autoantibodies of IgM isotype. Both IgG and IgM anti-cardiac autoantibodies were observed in 22% of cases, and multiple cardiac antigens were targeted in 38% of COVID-19 patients. These anti-cardiac autoantibodies targeted a diverse set of myocardial proteins, without apparent selectivity. As controls, heart failure patients (with dilated cardiomyopathy) had similar occurrence of IgG (45%, p = 0.57) autoantibodies, while significantly lower occurrence of IgM autoantibodies (30%, p = 0.03). Patients with advanced aortic stenosis had significantly lower number of both IgG (11%, p = 0.03) and IgM (10%, p < 0.01) type anti-cardiac autoantibodies than that in COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, we detected changes in the anti-cardiac autoantibody profile in 7 COVID-19 patients during hospital treatment.

Surprisingly, the presence of these anti-cardiac autoantibodies did not affect the clinical outcome and the prevalence of the autoantibodies did not differ between the elderly (over 65 years) and the patients younger than 65 years of age. Our results demonstrate that the majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients produce novel anti-cardiac IgM autoantibodies. COVID-19 also reactivates resident IgG autoantibodies. These autoantibodies may promote autoimmune reactions, which can complicate post-COVID recuperation, contributing to post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (long COVID).

Source: Fagyas M, Nagy B Jr, Ráduly AP, Mányiné IS, Mártha L, Erdősi G, Sipka S Jr, Enyedi E, Szabó AÁ, Pólik Z, Kappelmayer J, Papp Z, Borbély A, Szabó T, Balla J, Balla G, Bai P, Bácsi A, Tóth A. The majority of severe COVID-19 patients develop anti-cardiac autoantibodies. Geroscience. 2022 Sep 16:1–14. doi: 10.1007/s11357-022-00649-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36112333; PMCID: PMC9483490. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9483490/ (Full text)

Prevalence and clinical presentation of long COVID in children: a systematic review

Abstract:

A systematic literature review was conducted up to 15th February 2022 to summarize long COVID evidence and to assess prevalence and clinical presentation in children and adolescents. Articles reporting long COVID prevalence and symptoms based on original data in the paediatric population were included. Case series quality was assessed through the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist. For observational studies, adherence to STROBE checklist was evaluated. Twenty-two articles were included: 19 observational studies (12 cohort/7 cross-sectional) and 3 case series. Nine studies provided a control group. We found a high variability in terms of prevalence (1.6-70%). The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue (2-87%), headache (3.5-80%), arthro-myalgias (5.4-66%), chest tightness or pain (1.4-51%), and dyspnoea (2-57.1%). Five studies reported limitations in daily function due to long COVID. Alterations at brain imaging were described in one study, transient electrocardiographic abnormalities were described in a minority of children, while most authors did not evidence long-term pulmonary sequelae. Older age, female sex, and previous long-term pathological conditions were more frequently associated with persistent symptoms.

Conclusion: Long COVID evidence in children is limited, heterogeneous, and based on low-quality studies. The lockdown consequences are difficult to distinguish from long COVID symptoms. High-quality studies are required: WHO definition of long COVID should be used, controlled clinical studies should be encouraged, and the impact of new variants on long COVID prevalence should be investigated to ensure an objective analysis of long COVID characteristics in children and a proper allocation of healthcare system resources.

What is known: • Children rarely develop a severe respiratory disease in the acute phase of COVID-19. • A limited number of patients develop a multisystem inflammatory condition that can lead to multiorgan failure and shock.

What is new: • Persistent symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection are reported in children and limitations in daily function due to long COVID symptoms affect school attendance. • Functional complaints of post-acute COVID are difficult to be distinguished from those due to social restrictions.

Source: Pellegrino R, Chiappini E, Licari A, Galli L, Marseglia GL. Prevalence and clinical presentation of long COVID in children: a systematic review. Eur J Pediatr. 2022 Sep 15:1–15. doi: 10.1007/s00431-022-04600-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36107254; PMCID: PMC9476461.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9476461/ (Full text)

Long-term neuromuscular consequences of SARS-Cov-2 and their similarities with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: results of the retrospective CoLGEM study

Abstract:

Background: Patients with long-COVID often complain of continuous fatigue, myalgia, sleep problems, cognitive dysfunction, and post-exertional malaise. No data are available on EMG recording of evoked myopotentials (M-waves) or exercise-induced alterations in long-COVID patients, providing evidence of muscle membrane fatigue. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) develops in more than half of patients after an infectious disease, particularly viral diseases. A large proportion (around 70%) of these patients have neuromuscular disorders with M-wave alterations during and after exercise. Our hypothesis was that M-wave alterations would be also found in long-COVID patients, in association with neuromuscular symptoms, similar to ME/CFS.

Methods: This retrospective observational ColGEM (Covid LonG Encéphalomyelite Myalgique) study compared 59 patients with long-COVID and 55 ME/CFS patients with a history of severe infection who presented before the COVID pandemic. All of these patients underwent the same protocol consisting of a questionnaire focusing on neural and neuromuscular disorders and M-wave recording in the rectus femoris muscle before, during, and 10 min after a progressive cycling exercise. Maximal handgrip strength (MHGS) and maximal exercise power were also measured. The frequency of symptoms and magnitude of M-wave changes in the two groups were compared using non-parametric and parametric tests.

Results: The frequency of fatigue, myalgia, sleep problems, cognitive dysfunction, and post-exertional malaise as well as the magnitude of exercise-induced M-wave alterations were the same in the two groups. By contrast, digestive problems were less present in long-COVID. M-wave alterations were greater in ME/CFS patients as in those with long-COVID when the highest muscle strength and highest exercise performance were measured.

Conclusions: These high clinical and biological similarities between long-COVID and ME/CFS support the hypothesis that SARS-Cov-2 infection can cause ME/CFS symptoms. Trial registration Registered retrospectively.

Source: Retornaz F, Rebaudet S, Stavris C, Jammes Y. Long-term neuromuscular consequences of SARS-Cov-2 and their similarities with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: results of the retrospective CoLGEM study. J Transl Med. 2022 Sep 24;20(1):429. doi: 10.1186/s12967-022-03638-7. PMID: 36153556. https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-022-03638-7 (Full text)

Pulmonary Dysfunction after Pediatric COVID-19

Abstract:

Background: Long COVID occurs in lower frequency in children and adolescents than in adults. Morphologic and free-breathing phase-resolved functional low-field MRI may identify persistent pulmonary manifestations after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Purpose: To characterize both morphologic and functional changes of lung parenchyma on low-field MRI in children and adolescents with post COVID-19 compared with healthy controls.

Materials and Methods: Between August and December 2021, a cross-sectional, prospective clinical trial using low-field MRI was performed in children and adolescents from a single academic medical center. The primary outcome was the frequency of morphologic changes on MRI. Secondary outcomes included MRI-derived functional proton ventilation and perfusion parameters. Clinical symptoms, the duration from positive RT-PCR test and serological parameters were compared with imaging results. Nonparametric tests for pairwise and corrected tests for groupwise comparisons were applied to assess differences in healthy controls, recovered participants and with long COVID.

Results: A total of 54 participants post COVID-19 infection (mean age, 11 years ±3 [SD], 56 males) and 9 healthy controls (mean age, 10 years ±3 [SD], 70 males) were included: 29 (54%) in the COVID-19 group had recovered from infection and 25 (46%) were classified as having long COVID on the day of enrollment. Morphologic abnormality was identified in one recovered participant. Both ventilated and perfused lung parenchyma (V/Q match) was reduced from 81±6.1% in healthy controls to 62±19% (P =.006) in the recovered group and 60±20% (P=.003) in the long COVID group. V/Q match was lower in post COVID patients with infection less than 180 days (63±20%, P=.03), 180 to 360 days (63±18%, P=0.03) and 360 days ago (41±12%, P<.001) as compared with the never-infected healthy controls (81±6.1%).

Conclusion: Low-field MRI showed persistent pulmonary dysfunction in both children and adolescents recovered from COVID-19 and with long COVID.

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04990531

Source: Heiss R, Tan L, Schmidt S, Regensburger AP, Ewert F, Mammadova D, Buehler A, Vogel-Claussen J, Voskrebenzev A, Rauh M, Rompel O, Nagel AM, Lévy S, Bickelhaupt S, May MS, Uder M, Metzler M, Trollmann R, Woelfle J, Wagner AL, Knieling F. Pulmonary Dysfunction after Pediatric COVID-19. Radiology. 2022 Sep 20:221250. doi: 10.1148/radiol.221250. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36125379.

Long-term neurologic outcomes of COVID-19

Abstract:

The neurologic manifestations of acute COVID-19 are well characterized, but a comprehensive evaluation of postacute neurologic sequelae at 1 year has not been undertaken. Here we use the national healthcare databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs to build a cohort of 154,068 individuals with COVID-19, 5,638,795 contemporary controls and 5,859,621 historical controls; we use inverse probability weighting to balance the cohorts, and estimate risks and burdens of incident neurologic disorders at 12 months following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Our results show that in the postacute phase of COVID-19, there was increased risk of an array of incident neurologic sequelae including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cognition and memory disorders, peripheral nervous system disorders, episodic disorders (for example, migraine and seizures), extrapyramidal and movement disorders, mental health disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, sensory disorders, Guillain–Barré syndrome, and encephalitis or encephalopathy.

We estimated that the hazard ratio of any neurologic sequela was 1.42 (95% confidence intervals 1.38, 1.47) and burden 70.69 (95% confidence intervals 63.54, 78.01) per 1,000 persons at 12 months. The risks and burdens were elevated even in people who did not require hospitalization during acute COVID-19. Limitations include a cohort comprising mostly White males. Taken together, our results provide evidence of increased risk of long-term neurologic disorders in people who had COVID-19.

Source: Xu, E., Xie, Y. & Al-Aly, Z. Long-term neurologic outcomes of COVID-19. Nat Med (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02001-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02001-z (Full text)

How “long covid” is shedding light on postviral syndromes

Long covid really shouldn’t have been a surprise, says Vett Lloyd, a biologist at Mount Allison University in Sackville, Canada. “When the pandemic started, the general assumption was that there were two possible outcomes to an infection—you’d either get better or die,” she says.

But there’s a possible third outcome. It’s long been known that a number of disease causing pathogens—some viral and some bacterial—are associated with ongoing post-infection symptoms in a significant minority of patients.

“There was no real reason to think SARS-CoV-2 should be any different than the original SARS, which also caused post-infection syndromes,” says Lloyd. She is one of many researchers who hope that the attention and funding directed towards long covid will help to shed light on how and why other infections can lead to persistent and sometimes debilitating symptoms.

Read the rest of this article HERE.

Source: Owens B. How “long covid” is shedding light on postviral syndromes BMJ 2022; 378 :o2188 doi:10.1136/bmj.o2188  https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2188 (Full text)

Higher rates of long covid symptoms in patients with mild covid-19

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected over 61 million U.S. citizens, and up to 30-80% of COVID-19 survivors may go on to develop post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). These sequelae can be debilitating and often impair quality of life and daily function. Although it has been suggested that severity of acute COVID-19 infection is directly related to PASC development, this association remains unclear.

METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted through consecutive recruitment of confirmed and probable COVID-19 patients with persistent symptoms lasting ≥3 weeks from disease onset or positive SARS-CoV-2 test from academic PASC clinics at Emory University and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA during January-December 2021. Sociodemographic, comorbidity, and acute COVID-19 data were collected. Severe acute COVID- 19 was defined as requiring hospitalization, and critical acute COVID-19 required intensive care. New or worsening symptoms persisting ≥3 weeks from COVID-19 onset were collected using a standardized review of systems, and confirmed by clinician interview. Differences in PASC symptom type were assessed by calculating risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using the Taylor series, and difference in PASC duration was assessed using student’s t-test. Two-tailed p-values ≤0.05 were considered significant.

RESULTS: Of 269 enrollees, median age was 52 years (range 18-93) and there were more women (74%) than men (26%). There were 152 (57%) African American, 76 (28%) White, and 21 (8%) Hispanic. Among PASC patients, the most common symptoms were dyspnea (68%), fatigue (63%), brain fog (48%), dizziness (27%), chest pain (25%), cough (23%) and headache (23%) with a median PASC duration of 132 days (range 21-523). Acute COVID-19 severity was asymptomatic in one participant, mild in 149 (55%), severe in 95 (35%), and critical in 23 (9%). Asymptomatic- mild acute COVID-19 patients had more persistent dyspnea (RR 1.33, 95%, CI 1.09- 1.61), fatigue (RR 1.53, 95%CI 1.22-1.91), brain fog (RR 2.00, 95%CI 1.44-2.67), dizziness (RR 2.03, 95%CI 1.27-3.25), and headache (RR 2.07, 95%CI 1.22-3.48) compared with severe-critical acute disease, who had a non-significant trend towards more cough and chest pain. Asymptomatic-mild participants were further from incident infection (153 days) compared to severe-critical participants (110 days) (p=0.04).

CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to previous observations, COVID-19 survivors who experienced asymptomatic-mild infections may develop higher rates of prevalent PASC symptoms compared to those with severe- critical antecedent infections. These findings are not attributable to PASC duration, as longer PASC duration has been previously associated with fewer symptoms. To ensure early identification and linkage to specialized care, clinicians should be aware of PASC in patients with antecedent asymptomatic-mild acute COVID-19 infections.

Source: Walker, T.; Truong, A.; Summers, A.; Dixit, A.; Goldstein, F.; Hajjar, I.; Echols, M.; Cook, S.; Lee, E.; Tekwani, S.; Carroll, K.; Sanz, I.; Lee, E. H.; Han, J. Higher rates of long covid symptoms in patients with mild covid-19. Journal of General Internal Medicine ; 37:S280, 2022. Article in English | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-1995854 https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/pt/covidwho-1995854?lang=en