Hope for long Covid sufferers as Pfizer antiviral for patients left with lingering symptoms trialed - Daily Mail

Prior research has indicated that people given the drug are a quarter less likely to suffer long Covid - which most commonly causes intense tiredness, brain fog and muscle weakness. .

As of yet, there are no proven treatments for long Covid, and no one knows what causes the ongoing symptoms.

A recent study suggested people with long Covid suffer physical alterations to their brain months after clearing the initial infection.

Long Covid is an informal term, used to describe ongoing symptoms following a Covid infection that go on longer than four weeks, according to the ONS.

The new study hopes to sign up 200 adults who have been negative for Covid for three months yet still suffer symptoms.

The first participant in the trial was 67-year-old Bill Fimbres from California, who has been suffering with long Covid symptoms for a year-and-a-half, including a loss of smell and taste, debilitating fatigue and brain fog.

A study by the Department of Veterans Affairs this month suggested those who received the drug immediately after their Covid diagnosis were 26 per cent less likely than those who did not take the antiviral to have lasting symptoms three months on. 

The CDC estimates that around 7.5 per cent of American adults are suffering from long Covid symptoms