A Canadian study says some long COVID patients who still suffer symptoms including fatigue and shortness of breath a year after infection are showing signs of autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis.
Manali Mukherjee (man-AWE'-lee MUHK'-ur-gee), a respiratory researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, led the study that was published today in the European Respiratory Journal.
The study shows two specific abnormal antibodies, or autoantibodies, which are known to cause autoimmune disease, persisted in about 30 per cent of long COVID patients a year after infection.
The research, which builds on studies in the United States and Switzerland, involved 106 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 between August 2020 and September 2021 and received care at hospitals in Vancouver and Hamilton.
Mukherjee, who was diagnosed with long COVID herself after previous research on the illness, says the persistence of autoantibodies for a year or longer points to the need for patients to see a specialist who could test for signs of autoimmune disease.
Doctor Chris Carlsten from the University of British Columbia's division of respiratory medicine also contributed to the study, which Mukherjee says she's following up with longer-term research.