Understanding Why Some People's Genes Prevent Covid Infections

AUSTIN, Texas - Oct. 15, 2024 - PRLog -- We are Learning More about the Concerning Health Consequences of COVID-19 infections

As much as many of us would love to forget ever hearing about the Coronavirus, the reality is that COVID-19 infections have become an endemic disease in the US, with periodic spikes recurring – especially during the summer months.

The virus continues to evolve as well, with new, even more contagious subvariants emerging – including the so-called FLiRT variants (such as KP.2 and KP.3) that descended from the Omicron variant – as well as a newer one called LB.1.

We are also getting a better understanding of the long-term health complications that come with a Covid-19 infection.

As you may recall, one of the symptoms affecting some patients with Coronavirus infections was the loss of taste and/or smell; a condition found to be either limited to the time of the infection or, unfortunately for some, a long-term consequence of the disease.

Now there is concern about sudden hearing loss. A study conducted in South Korea that was recently published in the eClinicalMedicine (a Lancet publication) found that a small percentage of young adults with a history of Covid infection could suffer gradual hearing loss (HL) or sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) – defined as a significant hearing loss within three days.

According to a new paper in Nature, other significant health conditions may be associated with even a "mild" COVID-19 infection, which can present up to three years after the initial infection.

These include problems with the GI tract (including irritable bowel syndrome), mini-strokes, and scarring of the lungs.

Debilitating "Long Covid" is now a Major Public Health Concern

The consequences of a Covid infection are even greater among the estimated 400 million Covid patients worldwide who have been diagnosed with "Long Covid" (formally known as Postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or PASC). This is a serious bout of the disease that can last weeks, months, or even years.

Patients with Long Covid (thought to affect about 6% of all adults with Covid and 1% of pediatric patients) experience one or more lingering symptoms, including loss of smell, taste, insomnia, cognitive dysfunction, or memory loss.

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