Written by: Parker Davis Edited by: Esther Melamed Post-viral syndromes have been well-documented for many prominent human viruses, including Influenza B virus (as far back as 1959), the coronaviruses that cause MERS and SARS, and coxsackieviruses, the agent that causes hand-foot-and-mouth disease (Adams, 1959; Calder et al., 1987). Though the symptoms are well characterized, the molecular and physiological processes that underlie post-viral syndromes are relatively poorly understood, as is the case with the post-COVID syndrome due to SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, also called “Long COVID” or …
Investigating SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in an Amsterdam Multiple Sclerosis Cohort
Written by: Sean Brady Edited by: Esther Melamed Introduction The presence and quantity of pathogen-specific antibodies (such as SARS-CoV-2) can be an indicator of prior exposure to disease as well as an indicator of how well someone may be able to respond to that pathogen if they encounter it again. In a recent research letter in JAMA by Zoé L. E. van Kempen et al, a group of researchers analyzed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This analysis enabled the authors to investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic cases as well as the antibody …