[ad_1]
April 15, 2020 – 9:43 am
Respiratory failure as a result
The pathogens Sars and Mers were already known to cause damage to the nervous system. Analysis shows that this is also the case with the new coronavirus. A possible consequence could be a sudden interruption of breathing. We explain what this means in detail for those affected.
+++ You can find all the latest developments in corona virus at any time in our live ticker at RTL.de +++
The patients showed additional symptoms.
Infection with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus can not only manifest with fever, cough, and shortness of breath, but can also cause neurological symptoms. This is the result of a study by Chinese scientists with patients in Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, from which the virus spread around the world. As doctors reported in the journal “JAMA Neurology,” a good third of the 214 patients they examined showed signs that the virus had damaged the nervous system. The most common symptoms included dizziness and headache, as well as olfactory and taste disorders.
Reports of crown patients who lost their sense of smell and taste, at least temporarily, had accumulated in the past few days. These symptoms indicated that the brain was involved, said infectologist Bernd Salzberger of Regensburg University Hospital. “Until now, however, there have been very few examinations of the brains of crown patients. We are still in the dark.
Dizziness and headache were common.
Wuhan’s current study is also based only on evaluation of corresponding patient files, laboratory findings, and radiological examinations for the 214 study participants with proven Covid-19 disease. As reported by the team led by neurologist Ling Mao of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 78 (36.4 percent) of them showed neurological manifestations that were more severe the more severe the general Covid disease was. 19
The most common observations made by doctors:
- Dizziness (36 patients, 16.8 percent)
- Headache (28 patients, 13.1 percent)
- Taste disorders (12 patients, 5.6 percent)
- Olfactory disorders (11 patients, 5.1 percent)
- Stroke (6 patients, 2.8 percent)
Here Oliver Pocher tells how he perceived the loss of his sense of smell.
The symptoms of Sars infections are known.
In an independent editorial to the study, neurologists Samuel Pleasure, Ari Green, and Andrew Josephson of the University of California divided these manifestations into specific symptoms (loss of smell or taste, muscle weakness, and strokes) and nonspecific symptoms (headache, loss of consciousness, dizziness and seizures)) a. With the nonspecific symptoms in particular, it is unclear if they are an expression of the disease itself or if they are part of a systemic inflammatory reaction in patients who were already very ill. Future studies should examine this question.
“It is important that the authors found that patients they examined with some of the most common specific symptoms, including odor or taste disorders and muscle disorders, tended to have these symptoms early in their clinical course,” the three explain. neurologists. This differs significantly from the neurological manifestations of Sars infections in 2002/2003, which were also triggered by a coronavirus.
In fact, Sars and Mers, also a coronavirus disease, are known to cause damage to the nervous system. For both infections, it has been experimentally shown that the virus can enter the brain through the olfactory nerves in the nasal cavity.
Important information for treating doctors.
In the case of Covid-19, it is now being discussed whether respiratory arrest could also be the result of neurological damage, for example, inflammation of the brain stem, where control of the cardiovascular system and respiratory tract is also found. From a neurological point of view, it is important to clarify how many of the serious diseases are triggered by the involvement of the central nervous system, says Peter Berlit, secretary-general of the German Society for Neurology.
In view of the current Chinese study, medical professionals Pleasure, Green and Josephson see neurologists in their future as “at the forefront of the pandemic.” The study authors find it particularly important that clinicians consider Covid 19 infection in patients with corresponding neurological symptoms “to avoid late or misdiagnosis and to avoid further transmission.”
Source: DPA / RTL.de
Video Playlist: Everything You Need to Know About Corona Virus
NEW SEQUENCE: Documentary from RTL.de “Zero hour – Race with the virus: How do we defeat Corona?”
In the second part of the RTL.de documentary “Zero Hour – Race with the Virus” we ask the question: How do we defeat Corona? To this end, the authors compare the various measures taken by individual countries around the world with the current recommendations of the researchers.
