SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 illness, is a respiratory pathogen that elicits notable properties of multisystem involvement and copious, often longstanding, complications. A recent study describes the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the nervous system.
Hints that COVID-19 was affecting the nervous system came early in the pandemic, when some infected patients reported smell and taste dysfunction30293-0/fulltext), visual disturbances, or memory impairment. These phenomena point to a neurological source.
The retrospective study summarized the neurological symptoms manifested among 43 patients between the ages of 16 and 85 years with either suspected or confirmed COVID-19 illness admitted to a hospital in London, England. The range of symptoms affected both central and peripheral nervous systems and included psychoses, delirium, encephalitis, strokes, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. The authors of the study noted a marked uptick in the number of cases of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a potentially fatal condition that more commonly occurs in children after a viral infection. Despite the extensive neurological involvement seen in these patients, many of them had minor respiratory symptoms.
These findings point to the multifaceted aspects of COVID-19 illness and underscore the need for providers to assess patients for neurological symptoms to improve outcomes.
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