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The lasting misery of coronavirus long-haulers

Months after infection with SARS-CoV-2, some people are still battling crushing fatigue, lung damage and other symptoms of ‘long COVID’.
  1. Michael Marshall

    1. Michael Marshall is a science writer based in Devon, UK.

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A recovered Coronavirus patient is monitored by a medical staff at the Department of Rehabilitative Cardiology of ASL 3 Genova

A person who has recovered from COVID-19 takes part in a rehabilitation programme in Genoa, Italy. Credit: Marco Di Lauro/Getty

The lung scans were the first sign of trouble. In the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, clinical radiologist Ali Gholamrezanezhad began to notice that some people who had cleared their COVID-19 infection still had distinct signs of damage. “Unfortunately, sometimes the scar never goes away,” he says.

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Nature 585, 339-341 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02598-6

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