2023-07-14 16:25:04
The family friend had been infected with Sars-Cov-2 four times. Her Covid-19 illnesses were not pretty, but they disappeared following a week or two. Other friends were less fortunate. The Covid 19 symptoms largely decreased, but dizziness, exhaustion, shortness of breath remained for months and new complaints were added: Long-Covid, a consequence of the corona infection, which develops around ten percent of the sick. And they rightly ask: Why me?
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An international research team examined 6,500 genomes of long-COVID patients from 16 countries in order to respond. Partly at least. Apparently, the nature of a specific point in the genome increases the probability of developing long-Covid following a corona infection by a factor of 1.6. It is close to the FOXP4 gene, which other studies had already suspected of influencing the severity of a Covid 19 infection and lung function.
The Uncle
What we notice regarding life and what we pass on – every weekend stories regarding genes and more in the “Erbonkel” – Columns by science journalist and geneticist Sascha Karberg.
This is of no use to patients or doctors at first. A genetic test for every Covid patient would be too time-consuming given the only moderately increased absolute probability of developing long-Covid. But FoxP4 might be an important clue for research into the causes of long-Covid disease.
How does the immune system get out of control, how does the state of exhaustion arise? The discovered gene sequence is one of several clues in the genome that the Covid researchers can follow to track down the cause of Long-Covid and perhaps even mysterious long-term effects of other viral diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.
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It is striking that so far there does not seem to be any mutation in the genome that might completely prevent infection with the coronavirus, such as the delta 32 mutation in the CCR-5 gene makes you immune to the AIDS pathogen HIV. The corona vaccination reduces the probability of a severe Covid 19 and also a long-Covid illness considerably. But so far nobody can be completely sure of a corona infection and its short- or long-term consequences.
What we notice regarding life and what we pass on – every weekend stories regarding genes and more in the “Erbonkel” – Columns.
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