Long Covid and Viral Co-Infections
On Tuesday, 1st March, Dr Armin Schwarzbach, Director of Armin Labs in Germany, gave a fascinating lecture to the Academy of Nutritional Medicine (AONM) about the subject of Covid and viral co-infections. In a nutshell, Dr. Schwarzbach summarised the main infections that have been seen to cause damage in Covid and Long Covid situations. It’s not just Covid!
With 1.3 million people in the UK now reporting prolonged post infectious symptoms from Covid (Office of National Statistics, Jan, 2022), of which fatigue and concentration difficulties are the most common, this is a subject that everyone needs to find out about.
Here are some of Dr Schwarzbach’s findings:
Long Covid
Firstly, there is huge overlap with Covid symptoms and those of its co-infections. What are the common symptoms of Long Covid? Fatigue, insomnia, aches and pains, muscle weakness, clogged lymphatic system, rash, tinnitus, abdominal pain, fever, sore throat, brain fog, among others. You don’t have to have them all - even a few are most unpleasant. They are also the symptoms produced by some of our most common viral infections.
The Three ‘I’s
There is an important triad produced by viruses - Infection, Immune suppression, Inflammation. If you are already suffering from chronic low grade infections, you are more likely to have immune suppression as a result of fighting infections for months or years. This makes you more susceptible to any new virus that comes along. Patients who are already going up in flames from years of unhanded low grade infections, inflammation and immune suppression, are expected to do poorly when they catch Covid.
We All Carry A Viral Load
We all carry a viruses within our body - no exceptions! Hopefully, those viruses are sleeping and not active and causing us a problem. An example of a sleeping virus waking up or reactivating is the reemergence of chickenpox as shingles. For viruses to reawaken, there needs to be something that puts a dent into the immune system (our watchdog against pathogens). The most common things that overload the immune system are: exposure to heavy metals (dental amalgams), other infections (dental, gut, sinuses etc.), poor food choices (sugar, gluten, excess dairy, alcohol etc.), chronic stress (from any source), exposure to wifi or other environmental toxins. So, the terrain of the body is all important when it comes to fighting off invaders from inside and outside the body.
We now know that Covid is good at reactivating sleeping viral infections and the symptoms from these reactivated infections are a big part of the Long Covid picture. All the viruses mentioned in this article have common overlapping symptoms like fatigue from damage to mitochondria (energy producers in cells), neurological problems, weakness, aches and pains, dizziness, brain fog, clog up the lymphatic system.
So, if you remember nothing else from this Newsletter, remember, it’s not just the Covid - it’s other infections too! Here are some of the Long Covid players:
Herpes family (DNA viruses)
Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) - a main cause of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and ME. One study showed that two thirds of Long Covid patients had active EBV. This virus is associated with a number of cancers, while a recent Harvard study postulates it is the leading cause of Multiple Sclerosis.
Herpes zoster (shingles) - can also be reactivated by Covid. A nasty virus that causes neurological complications and heart problems if left unchecked.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) - carried by 70-90% of adults and reactivated by inflammation and immune suppression. Linked to certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, joint, heart, gut conditions (colitis/Crohns).
Herpes Simplex Virus -1/2 (HSV-1/2) - Can go on to trigger severe pneumonia is susceptible patients. One of main symptoms - cold sores round the mouth. Also linked with Parkinson’s disease.
Human herpesvirus -6 (HHV-6) - 22% of critically ill patients hospitalised in intensive care units with Covid were found to have active HHV-6 infection (Lino et al., 2021). It’s another typical ME virus.
Enteroviruses (RNA viruses)
Coxsackievirus - As I have mentioned before in a previous Newsletter, this is the number one ME, chronic fatigue virus in the world! Dr Schwarzbach sees high numbers of UK patients test positive for this virus; I see around 95% of patients test positive for it too! Starts out causing havoc in the gut (leaky gut, malabsorption of food/supplements, food intolerances) and spreads to the nervous system and brain, heart and all round the body. I am suspicious of this virus with any kind of heart inflammation or heart rhythm problems, besides other common symptoms like blisters in the mouth and tonsils. Coxsackie is also a big player in the dental and tonsil area, especially in oral cavitations (unhealed, infected tooth extraction sites that produce little or no symptoms). It is really important that dentists and ENT specialists take Coxsackie on board, as strep is not the sole culprit.
Echovirus - another gut virus that spreads all over the body like Coxsackie.
Retroviral activation - according to Dr Dietrich Klinghardt, an expert in infections and toxicology, retroviruses both acquired and reactivated in our own bodies, are the major triggers for symptoms when we have any chronic infections i.e. the infections triggers the retroviral activation triggers the symptoms. As such, addressing retroviruses should definitely be included in any anti-infection programme.
Syncytia
The word ‘syncytia’ refers to the mechanism employed by Covid and many other viruses to clump cells together so viruses can spread more quickly to other cells. It affects coagulation and makes blood more sticky. The word ‘megalo’ in Cytomegalovirus refers to this larger fusion of cells.
Viral testing
So, hopefully you can now see the importance of testing for and addressing these common viruses that are affecting so many of us. Unfortunately, infection testing is not one of the things that the NHS does well. That is why I recommend investigating infections via
Armin Labs in Germany, as this is a fully accredited infection specialist laboratory whose tests are easy to access in the UK.
There are three main types of tests for chronic infections that I like:
Antibodies: We are primarily interested in the IgA antibody (current infection) not the IgM results (past infection). High IgG antibodies can also point to current immune activation.
Elispot: This is my favourite test for many infections, including Lyme, as it is 200 times more sensitive than an antibody test and available for lots of infections. Elispot looks at how the white T cell soldiers in the army of the immune system are responding to a particular infection. This is also known as a ‘lymphocyte transformation test’ because the normally quiet white-cell soldiers transform into fierce fighters when faced with a pathogen. Elispot is the gold-standard method of testing in organ transplant units round the world. It is a pity that so many GPs are unfamiliar with it.
Test for immune status: This looks at the specific cells in your immune army that deal with viral and bacterial infections. Low numbers signify that you have not got enough soldiers in your immune army to fight off the infections. This is known as chronic immune suppression and I see this a lot. All are available through the Good Health Clinic.
The Real ‘Why’
So what should you do if you are suffering from post viral fatigue? The wrong thing to do is to do nothing. I frequently see patients who have been suffering for 30 years or more with chronic fatigue symptoms. They have done stool, hormone and food allergy tests, but none of the proper infection tests that may really be at the root of the problem. If you want to discover the real ‘why’ of your condition, you should do the following:
Get a thorough case history to give a good idea of the potential triggers for your condition.
Test for infections/immune status.
Begin a programme that addresses your immune status, all sources of infection and inflammation (not just your gut), as well as your infections. Tip: antibiotics do not address viral infections but may push you further towards the ditch!
Long Covid Day
For those that wish to research further, Biolab is running a Long Covid Day on March 25th, in which there will be some experienced speakers providing a better understanding of Long Covid and sharing experiences of treatment strategies. You can go to London in person for the day or access the speakers online.
If you would like to find out if you have chronic infections and do something about it, please email the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com or ring on 07836 552936.