Kayla Brim laughed when she learned it could take 10 days to get her COVID-19 test results back. “I thought, ‘Okay, well, within 10 days I should be fine,’” she remembers. That was on July 2. More than a month later, Brim is still far from fine… [With] COVID-19, it’s not just the sickest who face a […]
From ‘brain fog’ to heart damage, COVID-19’s lingering problems alarm scientists
One of the few systematic, long-term studies of COVID-19 patients with mild acute symptoms is underway in San Francisco, where researchers are recruiting 300 adults from local doctors and hospitals, for 2 years of follow-up. “We don’t have a broad idea of what’s happening” after the initial illness, says Steven Deeks, an HIV researcher at […]
Think COVID-19 lasts 2 weeks? This patient has been suffering for months
What scientists understand least about COVID-19 are its long-term effects. Conventional wisdom says most cases are mild and the infection lasts about two weeks, but some people have been dealing with serious symptoms for a lot longer. Cliff Morrison is a health care administrator in the Bay Area and has been experiencing symptoms for months. He’s participating […]
We Thought It Was Just a Respiratory Virus
In late January, when hospitals in the United States confirmed the presence of the novel coronavirus, health workers knew to watch for precisely three symptoms: fever, cough, and shortness of breath. But as the number of infections climbed, the symptom list began to grow. Some patients lost their sense of smell and taste. Some had nausea or diarrhea. Some had arrhythmias or even heart attacks. Some had damaged […]
The long road to recovery experienced by some COVID-19 sufferers
It is now clear that for some patients who get through the acute stage of COVID-19, the battle is still far from over. Most will make a full recovery, but for a significant group it is a long and difficult process, with on-going, unpredictable symptoms. TRACY BOWDEN, REPORTER: 2020 was going to be a big […]
What happens if Covid-19 symptoms don’t go away? Doctors are trying to figure it out.
In late March, when Covid-19 was first surging, Jake Suett, a doctor of anesthesiology and intensive care medicine with the National Health Service in Norfolk, England, had seen plenty of patients with the disease — and intubated a few of them. Then one day, he started to feel unwell, tired, with a sore throat. He pushed […]
Living with COVID-19 when it won’t go away: New research of survivors confirms weird waves of persistent symptoms, linked to off-kilter immune system
Cliff Morrison conquered the COVID-19 virus more than two months ago. Then why does he still feel so lousy? While the majority of patients with mild or moderate symptoms recover promptly, new research confirms that others suffer from a lingering cluster of symptoms — possibly caused by a battle-weary immune system. The UC San Francisco-led investigation, […]
Covid-19: Steroids and Other Therapies, & Covid Patients with Persistent Symptoms: What’s Going On?
Highlights Panel discussion of COVID patients with persistent symptoms and the long-term manifestations of the disease: 0:30:27 — COVID patients with persistent symptoms share their experience.0:44:55 — Dr. Michael Peluso (LIINC co-principal investigator) discusses the LIINC study and a clinical approach to COVID-19.0:54:02 — Dr. Jeffrey Martin (LIINC co-principal investigator) presents on the epidemiology of […]
UCSF Medical Grand Rounds talks treatments and lingering symptoms
Michael Peluso, a clinical fellow at UCSF who is working on the Long-Term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus (LIINC) study, outlined several key questions the UCSF study is hoping to answer, including the prevalence of biomedical and psychosocial conditions from COVID-19 and if reinfection is possible. The study includes COVID-19 patients from diverse backgrounds, […]
Interviews with Leaders Responding to the COVID-19 Epidemic
Our work with the UCSF HIV SCOPE cohort and performing translational infectious diseases studies helped provide the experience and infrastructure needed to efficiently develop these COVID-19 cohorts as the epidemic was unfolding. When it became clear that COVID-19 would become a pandemic, we quickly pivoted our HIV study infrastructure to recruit COVID-19 positive individuals with […]