Aspectos clínicos e imunológicos de pacientes com recorrência da COVID-19

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.0992309118

• Palavras-chave: COVID-19; recorrência; SARS-CoV-2; resposta imunológica

• Keywords: COVID-19; recurrence; SARS-CoV-2; immune response

• Abstract: COVID-19 is an infectious and contagious disease primarily transmitted through the air, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first cases were reported in December 2019, and within a few months, it spread worldwide, leading to a situation of global pandemic, resulting in the deaths of millions of people and the illness of hundreds of millions. COVID-19 exhibits a wide range of clinical presentations, from mild symptoms to severe cases requiring hospitalization, often involving pneumonia. Moreover, various variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have emerged due to mutations in its genome, leading to new waves of the disease. Additionally, studies show varying rates of reinfection, recurrence, and hospital readmission. COVID-19 recurrence, characterized by the reappearance of signs and symptoms after a period without them, differs from the so-called "long COVID" or post-COVID syndrome, which involves persistent symptoms from the initial phase. The immune response to SARS-CoV-2 involves both innate and adaptive responses, and the virus's ability to evade the immune system is crucial for the establishment of the disease. Furthermore, the dysregulation of the innate immune response, leading to excessive inflammation, has been clearly associated with more severe forms of the disease. Thus, understanding the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for addressing recurrences and future infectious diseases, as well as providing insights for the millions of COVID-19 cases.