Blood transcriptomic analyses do not support SARS-CoV-2 persistence in patients with post-COVID-19 condition with chronic fatigue syndrome
Amirhossein Rahmati, Shima Shahbaz, Mohammed Osman, J. W. Cohen Tervaert, Shokrollah Elahi
Abstract
Post-COVID-19 condition (also known as long COVID) represents a crucial and emerging global public health challenge. Intriguingly, growing claims exist about the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 or viral antigens in the blood and tissues of patients with long COVID for months after the acute infection. This occurrence is not exclusive to SARS-CoV-2 as long-term shedding of influenza A virus in the stool of immunocompromised patients has been reported previously.1 Furthermore, this finding corresponds with that of a previous report that at 2 months following acute COVID-19, viral RNA was detected in various solid tissues and peripheral blood of immunocompromised individuals with post-COVID-19 symptoms, as opposed to that in immunocompetent individuals.