Development of system for assessing neurologic impact of long COVID‐19 and post‐COVID‐19 vaccination symptoms

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic has had a global impact on health. Some patients experience persistent symptoms even after the infection has cleared. The virus affects the body’s inflammation system, potentially leading to brain and organ damage. This study aims to develop a tool to assess the impact of COVID‐19 infection and vaccination, as well as the inflammatory response in patients with Long COVID and those who reported symptoms after receiving various COVID‐19 vaccines.MethodPatients who report prolonged symptoms after contracting COVID‐19 or significant symptoms after receiving various types of vaccines will be assessed, including serological testing to detect antibodies against the virus, cytokine profiling, biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases (plasma levels of amyloid beta, glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilament light hain) and clinical symptoms. The study will investigate the association of evidence of ongoing active brain injury, biomarkers, elevations of pro‐inflammatory cytokines, and the presence of autoantibodies to various antigens.ResultThe study comprised 85 participants, including 50 with long COVID‐19, 30 of whom presented with neurological symptoms and 20 with non‐neurological symptoms, and 35 who reported post‐vaccination symptoms, 11 of whom had neurological symptoms and 24 had non‐neurological symptoms. Participants underwent the proposed assessment system, with 33 having completed their first follow‐up evaluation, and 3 having completed their second evaluation.ConclusionWe present our initial findings from our proposed assessment system for evaluating the impact of long COVID‐19 and post‐vaccination symptoms. The results of this study aim to provide insight into the lasting effects of COVID‐19 and the potential impact of COVID‐19 vaccinations on patients. The full results of this study will be reported in due course.