McMaster study builds on link between long COVID and autoimmune diseases like lupus – CBC

Sep 22, 2022

Some long COVID patients suffering symptoms including fatigue and shortness of breath are showing signs of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, suggests a McMaster University study that builds on similar findings elsewhere.

Manali Mukherjee, who led the study and is a respiratory researcher, said two specific abnormal antibodies, or autoantibodies, which attack healthy tissues and are known to cause autoimmune disease, persisted in about 30 per cent of patients a year after they became infected.

The research was based on blood samples from patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 between August 2020 and September 2021 and received care at two hospitals in Vancouver and another in Hamilton.

The persistence of autoantibodies for a year or longer points to the need for patients to see a specialist who could test for signs of autoimmune disease, she said of conditions that also include Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/canadian-mcmaster-covid19-lupus-1.6591282