Another study from researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai and the New York Blood Center provides more harrowing evidence for the long-term consequences of contracting the virus.
According to the findings published in the journal Cellular & Molecular Immunology, when the researchers initiated contact between COVID-19 and lab-grown T lymphocytes — better known as T cells — the virus disabled the cells, which help identify and eliminate pathogens in the body.
The researchers also found that SARS, a related coronavirus, could not infect T cells. The study found that COVID-19’s damage to the T lymphocytes resembled that caused by HIV.