Logo Image
|Articles|February 22, 2023

Trying to Unravel the Confounding Mystery of Long COVID

A researcher who presented at CROI discusses this prolonged and debilitating condition.


Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) or otherwise known as Long COVID, has been a mystery to medical science. Long COVID continues to be a growing concern within health care, and for clinicians, it is difficult to treat, especially as patients can present with a variety of symptoms.

Michael Peluso, MD, assistant professor, School of Medicine, UCSF, points out there is so much heterogeneity when it comes to what patients experience with Long COVID that no 2 patients are alike.

“One of my favorite quotes from the pandemic comes from Ziyad Al-Alyin of St. Louis who is a Long COVID researcher at the VA, he said, ‘If you have seen one case of Long COVID, you’ve seen one case of Long COVID,’” Peluso stated. 
 
Peluso spoke at CROI on this topic. His presentation, “What We Know Now About Long COVID Syndromes,” was part of a symposium titled COVID-19: Where Are We Now? which was conducted on Tuesday afternoon.

Contagion spoke to Peluso who offered insights into how he characterizes Long COVID, addressed the skepticism about its existence, and delved deeper into his presentation.

Related to this article

View more
Cefiderocol Continues to Show Activity Against Resistant Gram-Negative Infections
Cefiderocol Continues to Show Activity Against Resistant Gram-Negative Infections
Shionogi data presented at IDWeek 2026 demonstrated a 76.7% clinical response with cefiderocol in carbapenem-resistant respiratory infections and high in vitro activity against resistant P aeruginosa VAP isolates. Christine Slover, PharmD, vice president, Infectious Diseases US Medical Affairs, Shionogi, offers insights on the data as well as clinical considerations for providers when weighing the antibiotic for patients.
Read more
Household Contacts Drive Most Hepatitis B Exposures in Young Children
Household Contacts Drive Most Hepatitis B Exposures in Young Children
Karen B. Jacobson, MD, MPH, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, presented data at IDWeek 2026 showing 58.2% of children younger than five years exposed to active hepatitis B in the home were exposed by someone other than their birth mother, a risk maternal screening alone would miss under the CDC’s revised birth dose recommendation.
Read more