The NIH’s words matter, especially to long COVID patients

Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has proposed allocating $1 billion annually for 10 years to the National Institutes of Health for long COVID research. One potential stumbling block to this good idea is bipartisan criticism of the NIH’s sluggishness in producing useful results from the initial $1.15 billion allocated to long COVID.

It’s in that context the current NIH director, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, responded to a question about long COVID last week, saying, “We see evidence of persistent live virus in humans in various tissue reservoirs.” She said that the virus can “live a long time in tissues” and that this is “likely one of the ways that it produces some of its terrible symptoms.”

The statement rattled researchers and shocked communities of long COVID patients. Proving persistent live virus that can replicate long after the acute phase and showing that it relates to long COVID symptoms would be a Nobel-territory breakthrough and point to effective treatments.

However, while viral persistence is one hypothesized mechanism for long COVID, as far as I knew, only viral remnants — leftover virus pieces that cannot replicate — have been shown, not persistent live whole virus. Further, such remnants haven’t correlated with long COVID symptoms. (Some healthy and sick people have them.)

Patients were abuzz. Was this more unacceptable sluggishness? Was the NIH sitting on crucial unpublished information? Was the NIH director completely out of touch with the research? Had they all misunderstood the science?

I reached out to the NIH. The answer turns out to be mundane. Bertagnolli said she “misspoke” and had “meant to say ‘viral components’ rather than ‘live virus.’” The NIH also confirmed to me such remnants have not yet been shown to correlate with long COVID symptoms.

Viral remnants may still play a role — maybe only some people are sensitive to them — or maybe leftover viral components are common and harmless.

The NIH also told me this is “an area of active investigation,” as it should be.

It’s good that Bertagnolli is so engaged with long COVID, and misspeaking during an interview is human. Hopefully, the institution keeps in mind that suffering patients are hanging on its every word.

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