SARS-CoV-2 RNA Lasts More Than Two Years In the Body

Update: I have updated this article on Feb 24, 2024. I included evidence of increased inflammation and connected the findings with the excess deaths and the rise in IgG4 antibodies.

This article features a study showing that the genes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 can last up to 676 days (22 months and a half) in the human body and cause Long COVID symptoms.

The preprint research Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to 2 Years Following COVID-19 was the work of several researchers from the University of California in San Francisco.

The study aims to explain the mechanism behind Long COVID.

What is Long COVID?

According to the CDC, Long COVID exists if the symptoms persist beyond four weeks since the start of COVID-19.

Symptoms of Long COVID include:

General symptoms (Not a Comprehensive List)

Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life
Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort (also known as “post-exertional malaise”)
Fever

Respiratory and heart symptoms

Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Cough
Chest pain
Fast-beating or pounding heart (also known as heart palpitations)

Neurological symptoms

Difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”)
Headache
Sleep problems
Dizziness when you stand up (lightheadedness)
Pins-and-needles feelings
Change in smell or taste
Depression or anxiety

Digestive symptoms

Diarrhea
Stomach pain

Other symptoms

Joint or muscle pain
Rash
Changes in menstrual cycles

Research Method

The study included 24 human participants. They were monitored from 27 to 910 days after developing COVID-19 using a PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography).[1]

A new tracer, [18F]F-AraG, was used to identify activated T lymphocytes in the subjects.

T lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells that are involved in chronic infections or inflammation. If there is inflammation in any organ due to the SARS-CoV-2 in any of the subjects, it will be detected by a high uptake of the tracer.

Results

Activated T lymphocytes in Many Internal Organs

Inflammation, as evidenced by a higher tracer uptake, results in the malfunction of an organ. Looking at the involved organs below, you can understand why they have Long COVID symptoms.

They found that in those who had COVID-19, tracer uptake was high in the following internal organs.

A. Nerve tissue, including the spinal cord and the brain stem. The brain stem is in the middle of the brain. The spinal cord transmits the nerve signals to and from the brain to the rest of the body.

Long COVID Neurological symptoms

Difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”)
Headache
Sleep problems
Dizziness when you stand up (lightheadedness)
Pins-and-needles feelings
Change in smell or taste
Depression or anxiety

B. Bone marrow in the lumbar spine and pelvic bones. Bone marrow makes blood cells. Not enough blood cells can cause anemia, weakness, and fatigue.

C. Lymphoid tissues in the nose, throat, and chest. Lymphoid tissues are part of the body’s defense against germs.

An inflamed nose can have problems with smell and taste.

The PET scan below shows more tracer uptake in the areas around the nasopharynx (nose and throat) in patient 21 (Pt 21) 654 days after COVID-19 compared to the two images of Control 2 and 3 that were taken in two other subjects before the pandemic. (The authors said finding anyone who did not get COVID was hard, so they chose a pre-pandemic image.)

Source: Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to 2 Years Following COVID-19. *medRxiv.* 2023. DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.27.23293177

Below are cross-section PET scan images around the nose. Imagine the patients lying down, facing the ceiling, with their feet towards you. Note the higher tracer uptake in Patient 15 (bright yellow), who had COVID-19 246 before, compared to Control 3.

D. Heart, including the aortic arch, pulmonary artery, and lungs

E. Large intestines. The large intestines absorb water from the stools. Therefore, if inflamed, it can cause diarrhea and stomach pain.

Evidence of Inflammation

In those with more than five Long COVID symptoms, signs of inflammation were present.

In participants reporting >5 Long COVID symptoms at the time of imaging, we observed higher levels of inflammatory markers, including proteins involved in immune responses, chemokine signaling, inflammation responses, and nervous system development (e.g. increased expression of proteins such as TGFb1, TANKIL7, TANK, IL20RA, CCL13, SPRY2, PRKAB1, BCR, TAF2).

Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to 2 Years Following COVID-19. medRxiv. 2023. DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.27.23293177

How long were the T cells activated after the COVID-19?

They found that the T cell activation or inflammation was higher immediately after COVID-19 and can persist for up to 2.5 years.

In those with Long COVID symptoms, the tracer uptake persisted in the spinal cord and the gut wall.

Here again, are the neurological and stomach issues with Long COVID.

In those with long-standing breathing symptoms, tracer uptake in the lungs was higher. Long COVID breathing problems include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain.

Why are the T cells activated long after the COVID-19?

T cells get activated if a foreign antigen like the SARS-CoV-2 is present. The researchers got some tissue samples from the large intestines to answer this.

Why the large intestines? Although still invasive, doing a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy is less dangerous than going inside the lungs, the throat, the middle of the chest cavity, and the brain.

After doing specialized testing (in situ hybridization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and immunohistochemical studies), they found cellular SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wall of the large intestines.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in those whose COVID-19 happened 158 to 676 days ago!

If SARS-CoV-2 RNA is present in the large intestines, it can be assumed that they are also present in the other organs (brain, heart, lungs, etc) where the T cells are activated.

These SARS-CoV-2 RNA stimulate the immune system, activate the T lymphocytes, and cause multi-organ dysfunction.

Is there a connection between tracer uptake and Long COVID symptoms?

Those with more tracer uptake have 5.5 more symptoms than those without an increase. As mentioned earlier, participants with Long COVID symptoms have a higher uptake in the spinal cord, hilar lymph nodes, and colon/rectal wall.

What about the vaccinated?

Here is an interesting and curious part of the study. Many are probably asking how much the mRNA shots factor into this. As you may know, there is a condition called Post Vaccine Syndrome. [2]

Post Vaccine syndrome happens after COVID-19 shots in some people, and the symptoms are the same as in Long COVID.

Back to the study. Unfortunately, the authors only compared the uptake between those who received two SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses greater than or less than 180 days before PET imaging. Honestly, I can’t think of the significance of finding out. But here is what they said,

Timing from most recent vaccination to imaging appeared to have little effect on [¹⁸F]F-AraG uptake across most tissues, with the exception of modestly lower gut wall tracer uptake in those whose last dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was >180 days prior to imaging (Supplemental Figure 5a)

When I opened Supplemental Figure 5a, here is what it shows.

SUV stands for standardized uptake values or the amount of tracer detected. The two groups of vaccinated people have higher tracer uptake than the control.

Especially concerning to me are the high levels in the heart (right ventricle wall), nerve tissues (cervical spine, thoracic spinal cord, cauda equina), the large intestine (right colon wall), and the bone marrow in the lumbar iliac and femoral.

This is why I look at the supplementary data typically not included in the main study that many will not bother to look at.

How much of these increases in tracer uptake is due to the mRNA shots is hard to tell with the study design.

If you think about it, you can say that people with the mRNA shots have more T cell activation, which might explain the Post Vaccine Syndrome.

Could the mRNA jabs contribute to more inflammation and higher tracer uptake? Why not? They have the same RNA sequence. The difference is that the mRNA shots only use the most dangerous part of the SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein.

Previous studies have shown that the spike proteins from the mRNA jabs persist in the body.

I wrote about them in

This is because multiple research studies have shown how the mRNA in the shots can mix with human DNA, thus making the human body a spike protein factory.

In summary, the RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 can stay in the body for a long time. At least 676 days (22 months and a half) lead to inflammation, Long COVID symptoms, and Post Vaccine Syndrome.

Solutions

I talked about the FLCCC protocol about if you have Post-Vaccine syndrome in The I-RECOVER Post-Vaccine Treatment Protocol

And their protocol for Long COVID in The I-RECOVER Management Protocol for Long Haul COVID-19 Syndrome.

Getting Rid of Spike Proteins

Connecting the Dots

Excess deaths

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the human body is foreign. Thus, the immune system will do everything to remove it and mount an inflammatory response. In the process, severe conditions like strokes and heart attacks happen. This explains the excess deaths we are seeing.

Rise of the Non-inflammatory IgG4

The human body has defenses against a foreign antigen that can affect its survival and shorten its life. One is an increase in a type of antibody that can somehow decrease or even prevent an inflammatory response.

The persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the human body explains why there is an increase in the immune-tolerant IgG4 as months go by after the mRNA shots. The IgG4 antibodies go up when people are given allergy shots to prevent severe allergic responses.

In contrast to the antibody IgG3, IgG4 does not get rid of the new SARS-CoV-2 that infects a person. That is why COVID-19 infection continues in people who were injected with the “safe and effective” shots.

Know more about the IgG4 and its bad effects on the body in the following:

Recommendations for further study.

The best way to find out if the tracer uptake is due to the mRNA shots or not is to look for PET scans in the year 2020 that used the [18F]F-AraG tracer and find out if any of those patients have Long COVID symptoms are compare those who don’t have Long COVID symptoms.

The mRNA shots were started in December 2020. That means anyone with Long COVID in 2020 did not get it from the shots.

Truth heals. Lies kill. Don’t Get Sick!

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References:

Michael J. Peluso, Dylan Ryder and Robert Flavell et al. Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to 2 Years Following COVID-19. medRxiv. 2023. DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.27.23293177
Krumholz HM, Wu Y, Sawano M, Shah R, Zhou T, Arun AS, Khosla P, Kaleem S, Vashist A, Bhattacharjee B, Ding Q, Lu Y, Caraballo C, Warner F, Huang C, Herrin J, Putrino D, Hertz D, Dressen B, Iwasaki A. Post-Vaccination Syndrome: A Descriptive Analysis of Reported Symptoms and Patient Experiences After Covid-19 Immunization. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Nov 10:2023.11.09.23298266. doi: 10.1101/2023.11.09.23298266. PMID: 37986769; PMCID: PMC10659483.

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