Study: Spike Proteins Detected 709 Days Post-Exposure

Simian Practicalist
Jul 18
2 min read

A pre-print study by B. Bhattacharjee et al titled “Immunological and Antigenic Signatures Associated with Chronic Illnesses after COVID-19 Vaccination” posted on 25 February 2025 has found that spike proteins remain in the body for a long time.

The paper is 38 pages long, with the main text at about 13 pages. The remaining pages are plots, figures and references, amongst other miscellaneous material.

The study sample is admittedly small with 42 individuals with post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) who have no pre-existing comorbidities. The control group is comprised of 22 individuals who have no PVS (after receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations).

Interestingly, “a total of 15 (35.7%) and 10 (45.5%) reported having a history of one or more previous SARS-CoV-2 infections” for the case and control cohorts respectively.

Although it is claimed and in some cases spike proteins were undetectable by day 14 after injection, this study found

…significantly elevated levels of circulating S1 and S were observed in a subset of PVS participants both in the infection-naive and infection-positive groups up to 709 days post-exposure. This is in line with the findings of S1 persistence in monocytes in people with PVS. Circulating full-length S has also been detected in cases of post-vaccination myocarditis. Given the striking similarities between long COVID and PVS symptoms, there has been speculation regarding the potential causal role of the persistent presence of spike protein driving the chronic symptoms.

However, despite the elevated anti-S antibody levels, the researchers do not know why that fails to trigger antibody response.

In our PVS-I group, anti-S antibody levels were lower in those with circulating S1. Why persistent spike antigen fails to elicit an antibody response, and what the source of persistent spike in circulation is, requires further investigation.