Long COVID is a condition where symptoms of COVID-19 persist for weeks or months after the initial infection has cleared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People with Long COVID often experience fatigue, shortness of breath, and \u201cbrain fog,\u201d even if their initial illness was mild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New research in mice sheds light on why coronavirus infections can have longer-lasting effects than influenza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the study published by European Medical Journala, researchers compared the long-term impact of coronavirus with influenza A on the lungs and brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both viruses caused lung inflammation, but coronavirus led to ongoing tissue damage, including scarring, abnormal repair, and persistent activation of inflammatory and clotting pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Influenza, by contrast, triggered a strong early immune response followed by effective lung repair, helping explain why breathing difficulties are more common after coronavirus infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study also found that coronavirus affected the brain, even though the virus itself was not present there. Mice infected with coronavirus showed early microbleeds and sustained brain inflammation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Changes in gene activity suggested blood vessel problems, immune system overactivity, and disrupted signaling in areas controlling hormones and sensory processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These changes mirror neurological symptoms reported by people with long COVID, such as fatigue and cognitive difficulties. Influenza did not produce these brain effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings suggest that long COVID is not just about lingering virus, but rather ongoing immune activation, blood vessel damage, and impaired tissue repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research also points to lasting effects on how organs communicate, including the lung-brain connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While mouse studies cannot fully replicate human disease, these insights could help scientists develop targeted treatments to reduce inflammation, prevent lung scarring, and protect the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further clinical studies are needed to confirm these mechanisms in people, but this work helps explain why coronavirus can leave a longer-lasting mark on the body than influenza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Long COVID continues to affect millions worldwide, leaving many people with persistent breathing problems, fatigue, and \u201cbrain fog\u201d months after the initial infection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000104412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000104411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000104412,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assss.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":605,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assss.jpg","width":150,"height":91},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assss.jpg","width":300,"height":182},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assss.jpg","width":768,"height":465},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assss.jpg","width":1000,"height":605},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assss.jpg","width":1000,"height":605}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000104411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000104413,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104411\/revisions\/2000104413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000104412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000104411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000104411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000104411"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000104411"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000104411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}