Meanwhile, antibodies that normally attack foreign invaders have been shown to stick to the body’s own cells in long Covid. Autoantibodies are antibodies that mistakenly target and react with a person’s own tissues or organs. These could cause different symptoms depending on where they bind, explains Prof Chris Brightling, from the University of Leicester: “Those with muscle pain and weakness might have an autoimmune problem related to muscles, those with an affected heart rhythm might have autoantibodies to the heart tissue.”
