Prof. Katarzyna Piwocka’s team from the M. Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw is investigating the mystery of the so-called ‘long’ COVID. 

Even patients who have undergone COVID-19 asymptomatically or very mildly are at risk of serious long-term effects of the infection. Lasting for more than a few months, the symptoms of post-COVID syndrome affect virtually all systems and organs of our body.

Prof. Piwocka’s team tested the effects of COVID-19 passage, in its various forms, on the long-term ‘remodelling’ of patients’ immune systems and the functioning of their bodies. 

Polish scientists have already established that patients who have undergone COVID-19, maintain very high activity of the immune system for months afterwards, ultimately leading to the appearance of markers associated with ageing and the so-called exhaustion state, along with elements of chronic inflammation. 

The results of Prof Piwocka’s team’s work have been published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.