I study the illness #ME/CFS - a neuroinflammatory condition that usually begins w/ a #viral infection (sometimes a #respiratory infection!). I have argued for years that infecting #pathogens tied to the illness might persist in the central nervous system (CNS) of such patients
2/ While I realize this article is talking about acute #infection and #COVID19 - it explains that #SARS-CoV-2 “might infect neurons, raising questions about whether there could be effects on the brain that play a role in patients’ deaths:”
the-scientist.com/news-opinion/l…
the-scientist.com/news-opinion/l…
3/ Matt Anderson, (one of my favorite Beth Israel pathologists!) states, “Some of the purely respiratory symptoms that you might attribute to the #disease, the inability to get air into the #lungs, might actually be defects in #respiration controlled by the #nervous system.” 
4/ Also consider that patients w/ #SARS often develop chronic symptoms very similar to those of #ME/CFS. Chronic post-SARS symptoms that overlap w/ ME/CFS include persistent fatigue, diffuse myalgia, weakness, sleep disorder etc: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
6/ Alternatively, the original #viral infection (#SARS or a related pathogen) might disable a patient to the point where already acquired persistent pathogens (#herpesviruses, enteroviruses, #EBV etc) might better be able to enter the CNS themselves to drive chronic symptoms
7/ Also worth noting that the #brainstem is emerging as a focal area that #ME/CFS-related pathogens may exploit, and this study found that “Some #coronaviruses can invade brainstem via a synapse‐connected route from the lung and airways: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…
8/ Anyway, I’m hoping that the continued study of #SARS-CoV-2's neuroinvasive potential might also accelerate the study + acceptance of #CNS persistent #infection in conditions like ##ME/CFS, but also in #Alzheimer’s, #Parkinson's and a growing # of neuroinflammatory conditions
