Scientists investigating long COVID in youth found similar but distinguishable patterns between school-age children (ages 6-11 years) and adolescents (ages 12-17 years) and identified their most common symptoms.

Using health data from almost 213,000 Americans who experienced reinfections, researchers have found that severe infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 tend to foreshadow similar severity of infection the next time a person contracts the disease. Additionally, scientists discovered that long COVID was more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection.

Several U.S. senators have called on the Social Security Administration to take steps to make it easier for people with Long COVID to access disability benefits, actions that disability rights advocates and patients say are desperately needed.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching clinical trials to investigate potential treatments for long-term symptoms after COVID-19 infection, including sleep disturbances, exercise intolerance and the worsening of symptoms following physical or mental exertion known as post-exertional malaise (PEM).

Two phase 2 clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of three treatments for adults with autonomic nervous system dysfunction from long COVID have begun. 

U.S. senators pledged Thursday to press for more funding to research long COVID-19 during a hearing that highlighted patients suffering from the diagnosis as well as experts studying its impacts.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), last week announced nine grant awards of $1 million each for up to five years to support existing multidisciplinary Long COVID clinics across the country to expand access to comprehensive, coordinated and person-centered care for people with Long COVID, particularly underserved, rural, vulnerable and minority populations that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of Long COVID.

Current analysis estimates that 7.7 million to 23 million Americans have developed Long COVID. On July 31, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra released the following statement applauding the formation of the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice to lead the Long COVID response and coordination across the federal government and, in addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launch of the Long COVID clinical trials through the RECOVER Initiative.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), recently issued a new advisory: Identification and Management of Mental Health Symptoms and Conditions Associated with Long COVID.

Among people who have had COVID-19, adults with obstructive sleep apnea were more likely to experience long-term symptoms suggestive of long COVID than those without the sleep disorder, according to a large study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Twelve people with persistent neurological symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection were intensely studied at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and were found to have differences in their immune cell profiles and autonomic dysfunction. These data inform future studies to help explain persistent neurological symptoms in Long COVID.