Abstract
A proportion of COVID19 survivors may present with long-COVID, which is persistent symptoms lasting four or more weeks post SARS-CoV-2 infection. These symptoms may be mild to severe, and may affect different organ-systems of the body. The main objective of this study was to determine the demographic, clinical and immunological factors associated with long COVID. We conducted a nested case control study, with a total of 94 study participants initially included, and 64 participants matched for age and sex for biomarker analyses. 32/94 (34.1%) of all the participants had long COVID. Respiratory symptoms were the most common (59.5%) followed by the musculoskeletal symptoms (28.1%). HIV was an independent predictor of long COVID (adjusted odds ratio = 2.7; p = .037). In all the 64 matched cases and controls, IFN-β was significantly higher among controls than cases. After stratifying by HIV, IL6 was significantly higher among cases than controls in the HIV- group (2.06 vs. 0.81 pg/mL; p = .02). On the other hand, IFN-β was significantly higher among controls than cases in the HIV+ group (251 vs. 0 pg/mL; p = .01). HIV infection is a risk factor for long COVID, and inflammatory markers associated with long COVID may be slightly different for HIV- and HIV+ individuals.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.