Long Covid: MRI scans reveal new clues to symptoms


September 24, 2023 By Dominic Hughes, Health correspondent, BBC News People living with long Covid after being admitted to hospital are more likely to show some damage to major organs, according to a new study. MRI scans revealed patients were three times more likely to have some abnormalities in multiple organs such as the lungs, […]

First Diagnostic Test for Long Covid, Detecting Spike Protein in Blood, to Launch in September. Or is it ‘Long Vaccine’?


Authors{ WILL JONES 3 SEPTEMBER 2022  The first diagnostic designed to identify patients with Long Covid has received CE-IVD marking in Europe, meaning it is ready for its formal launch in countries accepting the designation this month. It works by looking for “patterns of inflammatory marker expression” in the blood, and in particular for the […]

Some people test positive for Covid-19 for weeks. Are they still infectious?


Authors: Advisory Board June 1, 2022 After contracting Covid-19, some people may continue to test positive on rapid tests for 10 days or longer—and experts are split about whether these individuals should continue to isolate past 10 days or just employ safety precautions until they test negative. How long can people test positive with omicron? […]

Two New Studies Offer a First Model for Diagnosing, Monitoring and Treating Long COVID


Two new studies propose the first model for diagnosing, indexing and monitoring Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), also known as long COVID or long haul COVID. The findings also provide a framework for understanding the cause of, and potential treatment for, long COVID. Long COVID is believed to affect as many as 30 percent of […]

Use of DAMPs and SAMPs as Therapeutic Targets or Therapeutics: A Note of Caution


2020 Jun;24(3):251-262. doi: 10.1007/s40291-020-00460-z. Walter Gottlieb Land 1 2 PMID: 32248387 PMCID: PMC7127836 DOI: 10.1007/s40291-020-00460-z Free PMC article Abstract This opinion article discusses the increasing attention paid to the role of activating damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in initiation of inflammatory diseases and suppressing/inhibiting DAMPs (SAMPs) in resolution of inflammatory diseases and, consequently, to the future roles of these novel biomarkers as […]

Role of DAMPs in respiratory virus-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome—with a preliminary reference to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia


Review Article; Published: 17 June 2021 Authors: Walter Gottlieb Land Genes & Immunity volume 22, pages141–160 (2021 )Cite this article Abstract When surveying the current literature on COVID-19, the “cytokine storm” is considered to be pathogenetically involved in its severe outcomes such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and eventually multiple organ failure. In this review, the […]

Evolution of NETosis markers and DAMPs have prognostic value in critically ill COVID-19 patients


Authors: Joram Huckriede, Sara Bülow Anderberg, Albert Morales, Femke de Vries, Michael Hultström, Anders Bergqvist, José T. Ortiz-Pérez, Jan Willem Sels, Kanin Wichapong, Miklos Lipcsey, Marcel van de Poll, Anders Larsson, Tomas Luther, Chris Reutelingsperger, Pablo Garcia de Frutos, Robert Frithiof & Gerry A. F. Nicolaes  Scientific Reports volume 11, Article number: 15701 (2021) Cite this article Abstract Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) presents with disease severities of varying degree. In its most severe form, infection may lead to […]

Inflammasome activation at the crux of severe COVID-19


Authors: Setu M. Vora,1,2Judy Lieberman,2,3 and Hao Wu1,2 Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), results in life-threatening disease in a minority of patients, especially elderly people and those with co-morbidities such as obesity and diabetes. Severe disease is characterized by dysregulated cytokine release, pneumonia and acute lung injury, which can […]