The Netherlands is getting a national research and innovation program for long Covid and other post-acute infection syndromes, the Long Covid Foundation said.

The foundation started the program because government research money for long Covid is nearly gone, NOS said. More than 40 million euros that had been available have already been spent. The government has not allocated a new budget.

The Long COVID Foundation has provided the first funding. For the future, it said, “long-term public and private funding is needed.”

Researchers who spent recent years on long Covid now risk returning to their old fields, the foundation said. That would wipe out hard-won knowledge and delay new treatments.

This year the foundation gave 500,000 euros to seven researchers at Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, UMC Utrecht, and Erasmus MC. They will stay at their current labs and meet regularly—most likely in Amsterdam—to coordinate work. The aim is to move scientific findings into targeted treatments faster.

There is still no effective treatment for long Covid. Between 400,000 and 450,000 people in the Netherlands live with lasting effects of a coronavirus infection. Of those, 90,000 to 100,000 are severely limited in daily life. Many report fatigue, cognitive problems, poor concentration, memory trouble, and immune-system issues.

Doctors and researchers now reportedly see distinct patient groups. Different biological mechanisms may drive the illness in each group, the foundation wrote.

“A key task for the center will be to better distinguish these groups and investigate which treatments can work for which patients.”

The foundation also hopes scientists will gather knowledge that can be used for other post-acute infection syndromes, including myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS.