(KRON) — University of California San Francisco and San Mateo County Health are partnering up for a long COVID study.

The study is called “Let’s figure out long COVID” — and is funded by the national institutes of health.
Long COVID refers to physical and mental health symptoms that last long after an initial infection of COVID-19.

Common symptoms include brain fog, fatigue, shortness of breath and anxiety. UCSF is one of 15 locations across the country participating in the study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The study is looking to answer several questions, including how common long COVID is in the Bay Area, as well as what causes it and how to prevent and treat it. Researchers are also looking specifically at communities who have experienced higher rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths than other groups.

“What we’re trying to understand better is, what is COVID doing inside of our bodies? Are we carrying residual virus? Is our immune system just on hyperdrive even though there’s no virus there and attacking itself?’, said Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH, from the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

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“What is driving long COVID? Right now we don’t know from a physical perspective why people get the symptoms they get, and we also don’t know who is at higher risk,” Dr. Rhoads said.

Enrollment in the study has already begun. If you have had COVID in the last 30 days, and you reported your case to your local health department, then you are already on the list of people researchers will call for voluntary participation. Those looking to participate can email figuringoutlongcovid@ucsf.edu or call 415-353-9306.