After focusing on 29 long COVID patients who initially tested negative, researchers found that a majority — 93 percent — were women around the age of 43.
The study, which was published in the American Academy of Neurology’s Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation journal, tested patients for antibody and T cell responses and compared it to two proteins from the COVID-19 virus and found that “patients’ responses were mixed rather than all or nothing, suggesting that a comprehensive evaluation is necessary and that immunologic tests are not a one-size-fits-all for confirming prior exposure to the virus,” Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine, who oversees the Neuro COVID-19 Clinic said in the release.
The findings, he noted, should be prioritized by post-COVID clinics to no longer require a positive test result to provide care to a patient who suspects they are experiencing long COVID-19 symptoms.
“Millions of people in the United States have been rejected by the medical establishment and stigmatized because they didn’t carry a definite diagnosis of COVID-19 when they presented with their long COVID symptoms,” Dr. Koralnik stated. “We hope those people feel vindicated by our study.”
