WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — The National Institutes of Health is beginning a handful of studies to test possible treatments for long COVID, dealing with a condition that afflicts millions in the aftermath of an infection.

Monday’s announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients who’ve struggled for months or even years with sometimes-disabling health problems — with no proven treatments and only a smattering of rigorous studies to test potential ones.

Scientists don’t yet know what causes long COVID, the catchall term for about 200 widely varying symptoms. Between 10% and 30% of people are estimated to have experienced some form of long COVID after recovering from a coronavirus infection, a risk that has dropped somewhat since early in the pandemic.

That’s why the RECOVER initiative has tracked 24,000 patients so far in observational studies to help define the most common and burdensome symptoms –- findings that now are shaping multipronged treatment trials.

The first two will look at:

  • Whether taking up to 25 days of Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid could ease long COVID. Normally Paxlovid is used when people first get infected and for just five days.
  • Treatments for “brain fog” and other cognitive problems. 

Two additional studies will open in the coming months:

  • One will test treatments for sleep problems.
  • The other will target problems with the autonomic nervous system — which controls unconscious functions like breathing and heartbeat.

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