UCD Newman Fellow and infectious diseases specialist Dr Brendan O’Kelly is working with colleagues at UCD School of Medicine and Dublin’s Mater Misericordiae University Hospital to improve outcomes for patients with symptoms of long Covid.
Dr Kelly is supervised by Professor Jack Lambert UCD consultant in Infectious diseases and genitourinary medicine.
The findings of a pilot study into the safety and efficacy of low dose naltrexone as a treatment for patients experiencing symptoms for at least 3 months post infection with the virus were published this month in the journal Brain, Behavior & Immunity Health.
This builds on Brendan’s previously published work showing that one quarter of patients attending a Covid follow-up clinic met the definition of ‘Post Covid-19 Syndrome’ one year after initial diagnosis. Furthermore, these patients had a significant reduction in their physical wellbeing, demonstrated using well-validated Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaires. The results were published in The International Journal of Infectious Diseases in March 2022.
Congratulating Brendan on these publications, Professor Jack Lambert, who supervises the Newman Fellowship research project, reiterated that “this is ground-breaking work” and should be highlighted more widely. We are delighted to do so on the UCD College of Medicine website.