Some long COVID patients suffering symptoms including fatigue and shortness of breath are showing signs of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, suggests a Canadian study that builds on similar findings elsewhere.
Manali Mukherjee, who led the study and is a respiratory researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton,said two specific abnormal antibodies, or autoantibodies, which attack healthy tissues and are known to cause autoimmune disease, persisted in about 30 per cent of patients a year after they became infected.
The study, which also involved Dr. Chris Carlsten, from the University of British Columbia's division of respiratory medicine, was published Thursday in the European Respiratory Journal and involved 106 patients.
Mukherjee, who contracted long COVID herself in January 2021 after starting her research on the illness, said she experienced fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches and brain fog. Calgary resident Sarah Olson said long COVID has prevented her from returning to her job as a kindergarten teacher since she contracted the illness in January 2021.