Covid-19 affects the central nervous system in some patients

Audio 04:31

By: Agnès Rougier

We discover that as the coronavirus can not only cause attacks in the respiratory tract, in particular the lungs, but that it can also attack our nervous system. We have already talked about the loss of smell and taste as a harbinger of Covid-19 infection, but there are other neurological symptoms.

Publicity

On April 1, the British scientific journal The Lancet reported a case of covid-19 in China which started with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disease in which the patient's immune system attacks his nervous system, which can cause paralysis. members. This is a rare case, but are these neurological symptoms common with Covid, and what types are they? 

Doctor Thomas de Brouker, head of the neurology department at the St-Denis hospital.
“  At the Fontaine hospital where I work, the coronavirus was the subject of specific care since in total in about 5 weeks, we had to have more than 500 patients, and of these more than 500 patients we have seen between 30 and 40 cases of various attacks on the nervous system, it's still quite serious since it represents close to 10% ; so we have, with the help of other general hospitals and infectiologists throughout France, made an investigation and found that indeed, these neurological manifestations were very varied and quite frequent  "

Neurological attacks can therefore be very varied, says Dr Brouker, what is more precisely.

Neurologists classify them into four categories: the first are isolated symptoms, loss of taste and smell, because the virus attacks the olfactory mucosa; there are also headaches, dizziness, but we do not yet know the origin.

In the second category, there is mental confusion, the brain works slowly, the patient has difficulty understanding even his own breathing difficulties; but also encephalitis, direct attacks of the brain; there it is probably not the virus itself which is responsible, but rather the patient's immune system which triggers a very violent response, like a storm which would cross the protective barrier of the brain.

In the 3rd category, there are cerebrovascular accidents, which represent 1 / 5th of the cases in the hospital of St-Denis, as in pulmonary embolism, it is an artery which becomes blocked, because the virus causes a hyper-clotting of the blood.

Finally, in the 4th category, there are attacks of the nervous system, such as the Guillain-Barré syndrome already mentioned, which can occur before or after the disease, and which require readmission, or even entry into intensive care. Conditions that can then lead to rehabilitation.

Note that the mental confusion remains transient and does not leave any sequelae. On the other hand, we read that the virus could infect the brain directly, is it true, is there a way to check it ?

Doctor de Brouker: "  In the vast majority of cases the explorations are negative, normal, and not only are they negative but the cerebrospinal fluid obtained by lumbar puncture shows that there is no Covid in this liquid, that is to say that there is no direct infection of the brain by the virus. So, at the moment, we have no argument for the neuro invasion of the virus, which has been a little too advanced in the literature, whether general or neurological  ”

So there is an investigation going on when can we find out more ?

The information was collected from March 1 to April 30, and 25 hospitals participated in the survey. The harvest, so to speak, is rich, and Dr. de Brouker hopes to be able to publish the results by the end of May.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to our daily chronicle  Coronavirus info

• The practical questions  :
→  What is known about the mode of contagion
→  disparities and inequalities in coronaviruses: what to remember
→  What outcomes for clinical trials?
→  A vaccine, the only solution to stem the pandemic?
→  How to make a mask and use it well

• Our series  : "The response, country by country"

• Each evening, find the State of the world and Africa facing the pandemic

• See also the files of RFI Savoirs  on Covid-19:
→  Birth of a pandemic
→  Everyday life put to the test
→  The history of epidemics
→  Science facing Covid-19
→  Geopolitical consequences

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine

On the same subject

Coronavirus: the state of the world facing the pandemic Thursday, April 30

Great report

Beginners and first line facing coronavirus

Health priority

Global health crisis