Four Different Family Members. Four Different Covid-19 Outcomes.

The Ruspini family in Sunnyvale, Calif., went down like dominoes. One by one, they all got the coronavirus in early April, but with different symptoms and recovery trajectories…

One of the biggest mysteries of the virus that causes Covid-19 is why it leads to such different experiences for the people it strikes. While some severe outcomes can be explained by people more at risk of serious illness—such as the elderly and those with chronic conditions—other outcomes have left doctors and researchers stumped, particularly the subset of Covid-19 patients with persistent symptoms, who often refer to themselves as long-haulers or long-Covid patients.

“The thing that has really stood out to me the most about this viral infection is that it’s really remarkable how much variability there is on the recovery end,” says Michael Peluso, a clinical fellow in the division of HIV, infectious diseases, and global medicine at UCSF, and a member of a team working on the LIINC (Long-term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus) study.