The study involved in-depth exams of 17 people with so-called long COVID-19, a condition that arises within three months of infection and lasts at least two months.
As many as 30% of people who have COVID-19 are believed to develop long COVID-19, a condition with symptoms ranging from fatigue, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, cognitive difficulties, chronic pain, sensory abnormalities and muscle weakness. After ruling out other possible explanations for the patients’ complaints, the researchers ran a series of tests to identify whether the nerves were involved.
The findings are consistent with a July study by Dr. Rayaz Malik of Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar that found an association between nerve fiber damage in the cornea and a diagnosis of long COVID-19.