Testing negative for antibodies doesn’t mean 'you didn't have COVID-19,' survey of coronavirus long-haulers suggests
So-called coronavirus "long-haulers" — patients who suffer from COVID-19 symptoms for an extended period of time — are causing the medical community to re-evaluate the disease, Ed Yong reports for The Atlantic.
For instance, many studies have found that COVID-19 patients produce antibodies that appear to last months as a result of their infection, but The Atlantic notes that most of these studies focused either on hospitalized patients or those who had mild symptoms and swift recoveries. Long-haulers appear to be in a slightly different category, in which their bouts with the virus are defined more by its persistence, rather than severity. At least one survey led by David Putrino, a neuroscientist and rehabilitation specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, found that despite having symptoms consistent with COVID-19, nearly two-thirds of the 1,400 patients received negative results on their antibody tests.
While there have been suggestions that long-haulers are not, in fact, suffering from a coronavirus, Putrino and others have grown increasingly certain that's the case. One patient whose long-haul case was detailed in The Atlantic tested positive for the virus twice before testing negative for antibodies. "Just because you're negative for antibodies doesn't mean you didn't have COVID-19," Putrino said. Read more at The Atlantic.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
7 magnificent hotels to visit before the summer crowds descend
The Week Recommends Have beach time in the Dominican Republic or a spa day in Saint-Tropez
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Sheep spray
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
The bird flu fight is faltering
Talking Points Are pandemic lessons going unheeded?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cow
Speed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US bans final type of asbestos
Speed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical records
Speed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problem
Speed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Vallance diaries: Boris Johnson 'bamboozled' by Covid science
Speed Read Then PM struggled to get his head around key terms and stats, chief scientific advisor claims
By The Week UK Published
-
An increasing number of dog owners are 'vaccine hesitant' about rabies
Speed Read A new survey points to canine vaccine hesitancy
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published