SEATTLE — For most of us, COVID-19 is a thing of the past, but for others, COVID has stayed with them long-term, four years after the onset of the pandemic.
Doctors at Providence Swedish in Seattle want to hear from those "long COVID" patients.
"Long COVID prevalence has been studied so that the number of Americans with long COVID is estimated to be somewhere between 20 and 40 million people," said Dr. Jason Goldman, an infectious disease physician and primary investigator at Providence Swedish.
Goldman and his team are accepting patients experiencing long COVID, to participate in a national clinical trial known as RECOVER VITAL.
It's looking into whether the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, normally administered to treat active COVID infections, can treat long-term COVID symptoms.
Participants in the study at the Swedish First Hill campus will receive either a placebo or the Paxlovid drug and then undergo lab tests to gather data.
The number of people experiencing long COVID in the U.S. is significant.
Providence Swedish pointed to a Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey that showed roughly 17 percent of American adults reported feeling COVID symptoms in recent years. Those surveyed in Washington state reported similar figures.
Doctors and researchers have yet to unlock what exactly long COVID entails, and why some have experienced it, while others do not.
"Long COVID probably isn't just one thing. Long COVID is probably a bunch of different processes in the body," Goldman said.
Swedish's research for Recover Vital will address common long COVID symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
There's also the question of whether long COVID happens from a long-term, persistent infection, or if it's the body healing after successfully warding off COVID.
"We really don't have definitive answers to that about what exactly is causing long COVID. There are different theories and the virus persisting in the body is one of the leading theories," Goldman said.
Or, it could be from an overactive immune system that's causing ongoing inflammation, according to Goldman. More research is needed to help answer these questions.
"There's a reservoir where a virus persists in the body and that can cause certain things like the fatigue or tiring after exercise, or even feeling dizzy when you stand up, or brain fog. So the idea that the anti-viral can break up this reservoir of virus that's persisting in the body is really what we're trying to study in RECOVER-VITAL," Goldman said.
Goldman added, while the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror for many, people are still feeling its repercussions.
"Even if the main phase of the pandemic, where the most severe death rates occurred -- that's behind us; we are still dealing with the aftermath," Goldman said.
For anyone feeling long COVID symptoms of fatigue and brain fog and interested in participating in the clinical trial, they can e-mail swedishrecoverstudy@swedish.org.
Doctors seeking 'long COVID' patients for clinical trial: HealthLink
Providence Swedish is joining a national research project to see if Paxlovid can be used to treat long COVID.