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About 80% of Corona 19 patients pass by lightly sick, but some are fatal enough to lose their lives.
Until now, we weren't sure why, but studies have shown that the coronavirus can penetrate directly into the brain and cause serious conditions.
I am Jo Dong-chan, a medical reporter.
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The brain tissue of a patient who died from Corona 19, and the spike protein of the Corona 19 virus are observed.
On a larger scale, the area where the virus was found is a cerebral infarction, that is, the brain cells are dead because blood is not supplied.
Until now, it was only known that coronavirus indirectly adversely affects the brain.
A research team at Yale University has confirmed that the coronavirus directly penetrates the human brain and damages surrounding brain cells instead of infected brain cells.
Infected brain cells consume a lot of oxygen, and the surrounding brain cells that lack oxygen become weak and die.
[Kyu-sun Choi/Professor of Neurosurgery at Hanyang University Hospital: (Brain infection) is predicted to occur secretly, infection through optic nerve cells or olfactory nerve cells, and through bloodstream (infection….)] When the
brain is infected It has been shown to increase fatality.
The researchers infect mice with lungs and brains separately. Most of the mice with lung infection survived, but most of the mice that infected the brain lost weight rapidly and died a week later.
It is dangerous if high-risk groups such as the elderly or chronically ill are infected with the corona, but apart from that, if the brain is infected, the risk of stomach and serious diseases may increase.
The researchers found that the timely administration of antibody treatments or plasma from a cure could prevent brain infections.
(Video editing: Kim Ho-jin)