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The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, found no reliable biomarker among 25 routine clinical laboratory values for prior infection, PASC or specific types of PASC clusters. This suggests none of these routine labs can serve as a clinically useful biomarker of PASC.

"Our study shows patients can have severe Long COVID with normal lab results. This suggests doctors should not focus on the results of blood panels to diagnose Long COVID but should focus more on symptoms and ways to help patients get relief by treating their symptoms," said the study's first author, Kristine Erlandson, MD, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Seven percents of all adults in the U.S., nearly 18 million people, currently have long COVID, according to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

“Our challenge is to discover biomarkers that can help us quickly and accurately diagnose long COVID to ensure people struggling with this disease receive the most appropriate care as soon as possible,” said David Goff, MD, PhD, director for the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “Long COVID symptoms can prevent someone from returning to work or school, and may even make everyday tasks a burden, so the ability for rapid diagnosis is key.”

This study was funded by National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. The RECOVER initiative includes multiple research studies that involve thousands of participants from across the country. In Colorado, these studies take place in the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) at CU Anschutz.

To investigate clinical laboratory markers of SARS-CoV-2 and PASC, the researchers examined data from nearly 10,000 adults with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection. The researchers recruited from over 80 enrolling sites across 33 U.S. states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, making it one of the largest and most diverse studies of its kind.

The study compared results in several ways: between participants with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection at six months after infection, between participants with and without PASC and between participants with each of four most common PASC symptom phenotypes and those unlikely to have PASC.

They found participants with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection showed modest increases in HbA1c (a marker of long-term blood sugar levels) and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR), along with small decreases in platelet counts.

“While these differences are statistically significant, these associations are generally small and not reliable enough to serve as diagnostic biomarkers for PASC,” Erlandson says.

The researchers suggest this data shows the complexity of PASC as a condition that may involve multiple physiological pathways beyond simple laboratory markers, such as those for inflammation, anemia or other markers.

“Long COVID has been very elusive; numerous possible symptoms, no definite cause and no clear treatment. We hear from patients that their concerns are dismissed by providers because their lab tests are normal. In this study, even the exhaustive list of routine blood tests could not help in making a PASC diagnosis. This is an important observation in PASC research as prior smaller studies showed inconsistent abnormalities in some blood tests. Until a reliable biomarker is found, the best diagnostic modality for PASC remains the old-fashioned history taking and clinical assessment,” Grace McComsey, MD, senior author of the paper, professor and vice dean of clinical and translational research at Case Western Reserve University.

The researchers also note that it’s still important to do routine laboratory tests to rule out other conditions during the process of diagnosing PASC.

Reference:

 Kristine M. Erlandson, Linda N. Geng, Caitlin A. Selvaggi, Tanayott Thaweethai, Peter Chen, Nathan B. Erdmann, Differentiation of Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Postacute Sequelae by Standard Clinical Laboratory Measurements in the RECOVER Cohort, Annals of Internal Medicine,  https://doi.org/10.7326/M24-0737.

Cases of the Oropouche virus (OROV) emerging in Europe have health officials on high alert.

As of the end of July, 19 cases had been reported with 12 in Spain, five in Italy and two in Germany, per the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The disease is typically spread through bites from mosquitoes and midges (small flies, particularly the Culicoides paraensis species), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Since first emerging in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955, the Oropouche virus has had "limited circulation" in regions of South America, particularly in forested areas.

Three-toed sloths and birds have been identified as "natural reservoirs" for Oropouche, which means they act as hosts of the disease.

"The virus doesn't spread from person to person," Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, confirmed to Fox News Digital.

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On Aug. 1, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert urging countries to "strengthen surveillance and implement laboratory diagnosis for the identification and characterization of cases … potentially associated with OROV infection."

By the end of July, there were 8,078 confirmed cases of Oropouche virus in five countries, including Bolivia (356), Brazil (7,284, with two deaths), Colombia (74), Cuba (74) and Peru (290), as reported by the PAHO.

"Experts fear that if the current outbreak of Oropouche fever expands further, it could overwhelm South America's already stretched health care system," according to an article published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Aug. 8.

The PAHO’s alert also warned of cases of the virus in Brazil that were transmitted from pregnant women to their fetuses in Brazil.

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"These cases are under investigation," the CDC stated on its website, noting that the agency is working with PAHO and "other international partners" to assess potential risks the virus presents during pregnancy.

Siegel said, "There is some risk to the fetus in terms of birth defects."

OROV, which is classified as an arbovirus, is often mistaken for other similar viruses, like Zika, dengue, chikungunya and malaria, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, muscle aches, stiff joints and chills.

Some may develop a rash that begins on the torso and spreads to other body parts.

Symptoms usually begin within four to eight days of being bitten, and last for three to six days.

"Symptoms can abate and reoccur," Siegel noted.

In severe cases, patients may develop meningitis, encephalitis or other "neuroinvasive" diseases, the CDC stated.

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For those patients, symptoms can include intense headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, lethargy, stiff neck and involuntary eye movements. 

"Around 4% of patients develop [neurologic symptoms] after the first febrile illness," Siegel said.

Most people who contract Oropouche will recover on their own without any long-term effects, the CDC stated.

"There are no vaccines for prevention and no treatments," Siegel said.

The best means of prevention is to avoid bites from midges and mosquitoes, according to experts.

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"People are advised to take preventive measures, including the use of repellents, clothing that covers legs and arms, and fine mesh mosquito nets, and to take extra precautions during outbreaks, particularly for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women," the PAHO advised in its alert.

Supportive care can include rest, fluids and medications to reduce fever and alleviate pain.

"Patients who develop more severe symptoms should be hospitalized for close observation and supportive treatment," the agency stated.

There have been "very few" deaths reported from Oropouche, the CDC noted.

Those who are experiencing symptoms and have risk factors can contact their local health department for testing.

"Clinicians in these areas where importation has occurred may not be familiar with this infection and need to be alert to its possibility," Dr. Amesh Adalja, M.D., an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC for comment.