'Fingerprints' of long Covid in blood may lead to diagnostic test

Markers in our blood -- fingerprints of infection -- could help identify individuals who have been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, several months after infection, even if the individual had only mild symptoms or showed no symptoms at all, say researchers.

A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge and the Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has received 370,000 pounds from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to develop a Covid-19 diagnostic test that would complement existing antibody tests and will objectively diagnose and monitor long Covid.

Using the funding, the team developed a pilot project. They recruited 85 patients and collected blood samples from patients when they were first diagnosed and then followed up over several months. The team now hopes to expand their cohort to 500 patients.