CANBERRA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) — Australian researchers said Tuesday they are recruiting participants for a clinical trial to develop the world’s first long COVID diagnostic test.
No single test currently diagnoses long COVID, leaving millions uncertain, but a potential biomarker discovery offers hope for a future diagnostic test, according to a statement released by Australia’s University of Adelaide (UoA).
“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,” said Associate Professor Branka Grubor-Bauk of UoA.
“It is complicated and presents very differently in each person,” Grubor-Bauk said.
The project builds on earlier UoA studies showing COVID-19 can disrupt the immune system long after the initial infection. Those with the most severe immune dysfunction were the ones who later developed long COVID, Grubor-Bauk said.
Around 5 percent of patients experience symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and chest pain for over three months after infection, sometimes lasting a year, regardless of age or initial severity of infection, she said.
Long COVID volunteers will provide blood samples and symptom questionnaires, with follow-up tests if symptoms improve to track biomarkers, researchers said. ■