Researchers have long demanded money for research on long-term covid.

Today, the government announced in collaboration with the Liberals and the Center Party that they want to invest SEK 50 million.

Petter Brodin, immunologist at Karolinska Institutet, welcomes the news.

- It is good of course that it will come.

It is a patient group that we have poor control over.

We need to understand why some are affected while the majority are not affected.

That is the central question, he says. 

Affects mainly women

Petter Brodin meets many patients with long-term covid.

They are mainly women who are affected.

Many are healthy, physically active and some even elite athletes before the illness, he says.  

- I have met many who are mataron runners or triathlon runners who now can not go up a flight of stairs, says Petter Brodin. 

One of the hypotheses that needs to be investigated is whether autoimmunity has a connection with long-term covid. 

- This timing, that long-term covid comes after the infection, suggests that the immune system's reaction to the virus plays a role.

Something goes wrong in that process, he says. 

May be virus left

Another hypothesis is that the virus remains in the body and hides in certain tissues. 

- So even if you have not tested positive, you can have virus reservoirs in the gut, for example, which are not caught in tests and which can explain why you get symptoms for a long time.

For those who do not suffer from long-term covid, the immune system has fought the virus effectively, says Petter Brodin.

One of the questions that Judith Bruchfeld, chief physician and infection specialist at Karolinska Hospital wants to answer with the help of new research money, is whether it is possible to prevent long-term covid treatment in the emergency phase. 

- Would it be possible with, for example, blood samples to identify patients who have an increased risk of developing long-term covid and offer preventive treatment?

It is important to regain your previous ability to function

But how well SEK 50 million is enough to fully understand the long-term covid is difficult to say, Judith Bruchfeld believes. 

- It is at least a good start.

As patients in this group are primarily relatively young working individuals, it is important to urgently both research and care for this group adequately, as in the long run it can be a great cost to society if they cannot regain their previous functional ability.

Matilda Sundvall, 39, vice president of the Swedish covid association, is one of those affected by long-term covid and has been ill since March.

Previously, she did strength training three to four times a week.

Now she has trouble just standing up. 

- I can only get up for a couple of minutes, then it starts to get too hard.

Before the disease, I spent maybe 10 percent of the time on the couch.

After the illness, I spend maybe 90 percent on the couch. 

Money important as confirmation

The research money that the government wants to invest in long-term covid is long-awaited. 

- It is fantastic, because it means acknowledging that the problem exists and that a proper investment is needed.

Petter Brodin agrees that money is important, not only for research, but also as a confirmation to the suffering patients. 

- It is an important signal to send, that this is not something "invented", but the patients are really suffering, he says.