Is There a Viral Reservoir in the Gut?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

There have been quite a few studies done, particularly looking at shedding of viral material in stool samples. One thing that they do not typically find is a virus that they can then culture and that they can show is still replicating in the gut. So it feels like there must be some sort of source of this, but they haven't shown it yet. But we that this virus gets into cells through a two receptors. We know there are ace two receptors all over the body. It's not surprising that there might have been, you know, virus at some point after infection,. In various different places beyond the lungs in the body. The question is, is it remaining there after the infection?

Millions of people around the world have been left managing the complex and amorphous syndrome that is long COVID. But the underlying cause of this myriad of symptoms is not clear. One hypothesis is that the virus is able to find a safe haven in the body from which it can bide its time and potentially re-emerge - a viral reservoir. Now researchers studying long COVID have found evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in a series of organs around the body, most notably the gut, months after the infection appears to have been cleared from the respiratory system. While there is still a long way to go before the reservoir hypothesis can be confirmed, these data provide compelling new support for the theory. In this episode of Coronapod, we discuss how the studies were carried out, why the question of long COVID's cause is so difficult to crack, and what more needs to be done to get a firm answer.

News: Coronavirus ‘ghosts’ found lingering in the gut

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.