Long COVID trials to start

 

The Biden administration is finally launching clinical trials to study potential treatments for long COVID.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said Monday it will begin enrolling patients in clinical trials to test at least four potential treatments for long COVID, adding it expects additional clinical trials to test at least seven more treatments in the coming months.   The efforts announced Monday are part of the $1.15 billion RECOVER initiative that seeks to define and study the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.   The initiative was launched in December 2020, and some patient advocates and public health groups have expressed frustration that it’s taken more than two years for the first clinical studies to begin.    Until now, the only research that’s been conducted with RECOVER funds has been observational. Observational studies don’t test potential treatments. For long COVID, they merely tracked outcomes and sought to better understand the characteristics of patients.   There is no standard definition for long COVID, but there are more than 200 symptoms associated with the condition. While most people generally recover from a COVID-19 infection, for some the virus can linger and cause debilitating problems throughout the body.   According to NIH, the trials are designed to evaluate multiple treatments simultaneously to identify more swiftly those that are effective. The initial trials will focus on viral persistence and cognitive dysfunction, like brain fog and memory loss.   In addition to the clinical trials, the Department of Health and Human Services said Monday it has established an Office of Long Covid Research and Practice to lead and coordinate the administration’s response to the condition.   “We know that when patients are suffering, we can never move fast enough,” Acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak said in a statement. “NIH is committed to a highly coordinated and scientifically rigorous approach to find treatments that will provide relief for the millions of people living with long COVID.” https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/4129849-long-covid-trials-to-start/