New study shows that COVID-19 can reach the human brain and stay there for almost 8 months

 

According to the analysis, SARS-CoV-2 extensively infects and damages lung and airway tissues.

The SAR-CoV-2 virus spread throughout the body, including the brain, and persisted for about eight months, according to a study of tissue samples from 44 COVID-19

 autopsies. None of the patients had been vaccinated, and they all passed away from COVID-19. The blood plasma of 38 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the blood plasma of three patients tested negative, and the blood plasma of three patients was unavailable.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US evaluated samples taken from autopsies performed between April 2020 and March 2021. In 11 patients, they completely sampled the neurological system, including the brain. The study was published in Nature.

The mean age was 62.5 years, and 30% of the patients were female. Three or more comorbidities were present in 27 individuals (61.4%). The median number of days between the onset of symptoms and mortality was 18.5. According to the authors, virus replication was observed during the first two weeks after the onset of symptoms in several non-respiratory sites.

In addition, the researchers were able to isolate live SARS-CoV-2 virus from organs both inside and outside the respiratory system, such as the adrenal gland, eye, brain, heart, lymph nodes, and digestive tract. The virus was isolated in 25 (45%) of 55 samples tested.

According to the analysis, SARS-CoV-2 extensively infects and damages lung and airway tissues. In addition, the researchers discovered viral RNA in 84 different body fluids and sites, and in one instance they identified viral RNA up to 230 days after the patient's symptoms began.

In the hypothalamus and cerebellum of one patient, the spinal cord and the basal ganglia of two more patients, the researchers found SARS-CoV-2 RNA and protein. However, they discovered minimal damage to brain tissue "despite the significant viral burden".

India had earlier announced that from January 1, all visitors from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand would have to undergo a PCR test. In the United States, up to 40.5% of new infections are due to the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.