Coronavirus infection leaves behind significant changes in the immune system even after 10 weeks of recovery, researchers have said. In their study published in the journal Allergy, they have identified seven groups of symptoms including “flu-like symptoms” with fever, chills, fatigue and cough, “common cold-like symptoms” with rhinitis, sneezing, dry throat and nasal congestion.
The findings could play a significant role in the treatment of patients and in the development of a potent vaccine.
The study which was conducted by a team of MedUni Vienna scientists led by immunologist Winfried F Pickl and allergologist Rudolf Valenta (both from the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology) involved 109 convalescents and 98 healthy individuals in the control group.
The researchers were able to show that various symptoms related to Covid-19 occur in symptom groups. They identified seven groups of symptoms such as “flu-like symptoms” (with fever, chills, fatigue and cough); “common cold-like symptoms” (with rhinitis, sneezing, dry throat and nasal congestion); “joint and muscle pain”,; “eye and mucosal inflammation”; “lung problems” (with pneumonia and shortness of breath); “gastrointestinal problems” (including diarrhoea, nausea and headache); and “loss of sense of smell and taste and other symptoms”.
“In the latter group we found that loss of smell and taste predominantly affects individuals with a ‘young immune system’, measured by the number of immune cells (T lymphocytes) that have recently emigrated from the thymus gland. This means that we were able to clearly distinguish systemic (e.g., groups 1 and 3) from organ-specific forms (e.g. groups 6 and 7) of primary COVID-19 disease,” says Pickl.