Researchers are seeking participants for a trial which could help create the world's first Long COVID diagnostic test.
The trial continues the work of University of Adelaide researchers Associate Professor Branka Grubor-Bauk and Professor Simon Barry, who have shown COVID-19 can disrupt the immune system long after the initial infection.
Associate Professor Grubor-Bauk and Professor Barry will work with Associate Professor Mark Plummer to recruit participants through the Long Covid Assessment Clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital as well as the general community.
The work is being supported through funding from The Hospital Research Foundation Group and Australian Government's Medical Research Future Fund.
"Without a national registry, it's difficult to know just how prevalent long Covid is in Australia," says Associate Professor Grubor-Bauk.
"However, for about five per cent of patients, symptoms will persist beyond three months after infection.
"This can include persistent fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, chest pain, joint and muscle aches, sleep disturbances and difficulty concentrating."
Long COVID typically lasts three to four months, but some patients still report symptoms more than a year later, and can affect people of all ages, regardless of how severe their initial infection was.
"Our study was one of the first in the world to show that the immune system remains dysfunctional even six months after you've had Covid-19," says Associate Professor Grubor-Bauk.
"Because there's no test that can clearly diagnose long Covid, patients go through a long process of elimination, which adds stress to what's already a difficult situation.
"It is complicated and presents very differently in each person.
"When we looked at it in depth, we saw that the people with the most severe dysfunction were those who later developed long Covid."
Participants will be asked to provide a blood sample and complete a questionnaire about their Long COVID experience.
The team will follow-up with patients and if symptoms resolve, an additional blood sample will be collected to assess whether the biomarker has also disappeared.
If successful, these findings will then be translated into a clinical diagnostic test through a partnership with SA Pathology.
For patients who have been diagnosed with Long COVID and are interested in taking part in the study, call or text 0418 890 857, or visit https://health.adelaide.edu.au/worlds-first-long-covid-test
