Post-acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC)
The USC Long-COVID research initiative is focused on pursuing interdisciplinary translational research with the primary goal of identifying and confirming details underlying the mechanisms responsible for the neurological manifestations of Long-COVID.
17.6% of all U.S. adults have “ever experienced Long COVID” and 6.9% are “currently experiencing Long COVID”.
As recently discussed in a recent National Academies report, the complex and lingering disease state known as Long COVID has profound medical, social, and economic consequences. The symptoms can be debilitating, with a national survey suggesting 17.6% of all U.S. adults have “ever experienced Long COVID” and 6.9% are “currently experiencing Long COVID”. Rates of Long COVID have remained relatively consistent, suggesting it may persist indefinitely. Neuro-psychological symptoms feature prominently in Long COVID among a large subgroup (neurological post-acute SARS-CoV-2, or “Neuro-PASC”) who report “brain fog”, headache, dizziness, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, etc. Unfortunately, the definitive mechanism underlying Long COVID, including Neuro-PASC, remains unknown, resulting in the absence of effective, evidence-based treatments. Recent data also indicate important differences in Long COVID by ethnicity, including a greater risk among Blacks and Latinos of developing Long COVID and associated neurologic symptoms such as headache.
Unfortunately, the definitive mechanism underlying Long COVID, including Neuro-PASC, remains unknown, resulting in the absence of effective, evidence-based treatments.
The USC Long-COVID research initiative consists of a team of scientists who are using cutting-edge approaches to test hypotheses related to the role of SARS-CoV-2 driven persistent mitochondrial injury, systemic inflammation resulting in damage to the blood-brain barrier, neuronal loss, and disruption of connectivity in the cognitive functional network areas to produce the cognitive and other symptoms of Neuro-PASC.
The ultimate goal is to establish the principal mechanistic details responsible for Neuro-PASC that, in turn, will yield clear targets for therapeutic interventions.