Thread by @DrEricDing

COVID REPLAPSE—New study finds the #SARSCoV2 may remain in people’s brains after infection and trigger relapses in patients who thought they had recovered. This could explain why patients who appear to be over #COVID19 sometimes relapse. 🧵
webmd.com/lung/news/2021…

2) “In the study, mice that were infected with the virus through their nasal passages developed severe illnesses due to brain infections, even after the virus left their lungs. In humans, this could explain why patients who appear to be over COVID-19 sometimes relapse and die.”

3) “The brain is one of the regions where virus likes to hide,” Mukesh Kumar, the lead study author and a researcher at Georgia State University, said in a statement.

4) “That’s why we’re seeing severe disease and all these multiple symptoms like heart disease, stroke and all these long-haulers with loss of smell, loss of taste,” he said. “All of this has to do with the brain rather than with the lungs.”

5) “found that the virus was located in the brains of mice at a level that was 1,000x higher than in any other part of the body. Viral loads in the lungs began to drop after 3 days but remained high in the 🧠 on 5-6th days after infection, when the disease became more severe.”

6) There’s many other stories about cognitive effects of long term Covid.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1326038189971288064

7) also worrisome study—cognitive decline in recovered #COVID19 patients was found across severity level—largest among those hospitalized (& also among those not hospitalized). How big decline in hospitalized patients? Equal to -8.5 IQ point drop, or 10 years of aging decline.

8) Decline was more pronounced for tests that assessed problem solving & visual attention. Study controlled for age, gender, education, income, racial-ethnic group & pre-existing conditions.

medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

9) Back to top story above... “Once it infects the brain, it can affect anything because the brain is controlling your lungs, the heart, everything,” the author said. “The brain is a very sensitive organ. It’s the central processor for everything.”

10) COVID-19 survivors whose infections reached their brain could also become susceptible to other serious medical conditions in the future, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, cognitive decline and autoimmune diseases, he added. mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/1…

11) But it’s not all dark... there is hope too. Sometimes nature is magical... potential drug entering Phase 3 testing.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1353864909772251138

12) This is why we need #BetterMasks. Protect yourselves and your family better.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1353186978519539712

13) To be clear, while the study was in mice, the quotes about relevance to humans come verbatim from the WebMD article and from the Georgia State researcher himself.