Patterson, Bruce K, Guevara-Coto, Jose, Mora, Javier et al. · Scientific reports · 2024 · DOI
Researchers developed a computer-based test using blood measurements called cytokines to accurately identify long COVID (also called PASC) in patients. The test was able to correctly identify long COVID in 97% of cases and correctly rule it out in 90% of cases when tested on a new group of people. Importantly, the test could also distinguish long COVID from chronic Lyme disease, which can cause similar symptoms, helping doctors diagnose the right condition.
Long COVID and ME/CFS patients have lacked a reliable blood-based diagnostic test, forcing reliance on symptom descriptions that overlap with many other conditions. This research offers a potential objective diagnostic tool that could accelerate diagnosis, improve patient care pathways, and enable more rigorous identification of study participants for future therapeutic trials. The ability to distinguish long COVID from conditions like Lyme disease could prevent misdiagnosis and guide appropriate treatment.
This study does not establish the biological mechanisms causing long COVID or explain why these specific cytokine patterns develop. It also does not prove the test would work equally well across all demographic groups or in routine clinical settings outside research laboratories. Cross-sectional design means it cannot determine whether cytokine patterns persist over time or change with treatment.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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