Research Is Suggesting The Coronavirus Can Linger In Body Organs For Months

We’ve all kind of expected it to be the case. Some people have symptoms that linger on for what seems like ever.

Research is now showing that the coronavirus can linger in almost every organ system in the body for months.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found the virus can spread widely from the respiratory tract to almost every other organ in the body and linger for months.

The Hill

We have known that the coronavirus can last in the respiratory tract for weeks after infection from the virus — all those people who have lost their sense of smell and taste can corroborate this info.

But, this new study is the most conclusive proof so far that the virus lingers in the brain and heart — giving proof to the “long COVID” theory that has been knocking around for the better part of a year.

Happy happy, joy joy, right?!?

The scientists said results from autopsies on 44 patients who died following coronavirus infections showed that although the “highest burden” is in the airways and lung, the virus can “disseminate early during infection and infect cells throughout the entire body,” including widely in the brain, as well as in ocular tissue, muscles, skin, peripheral nerves, and tissues in the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine and lymphatic systems.

Forbes

They found that the virus can be seen in the tissues of “multiple sites across the body for up to 230 days after patients first reported symptoms.”

While “long COVID” is still not 100% understood, it is likely to be a problem for years to come.

Obviously, unvaccinated individuals are in danger for “long COVID,” but nobody yet knows what effects will remain for vaccinated individuals. We are still too new in this whole process to know all the answers.

Understanding the mechanisms by which the virus persists, along with the body’s response to any viral reservoir, promises to help improve care for those afflicted

Penn Live

Now, these findings have yet to be peer-reviewed, and some of the findings have been contested — “the tendency for the coronavirus to infect cells outside the airways and lungs is controversial” — but you can’t argue with science. We are learning more about this virus every single day.

But, all the more reason to wear your masks, socially distance, and get that vaccine!