Reference News Network reported on December 2nd that the Indian newspaper trust website published a report entitled “Scientists believe that COVID-19 can enter the brain through the nasal cavity” on November 30. It is well known that the novel coronavirus affects the brain and causes serious damage to the nervous system. According to researchers, the coronavirus may enter the human brain through the nose. The full text is excerpted as follows:
Although recent research has shown that viral RNA exists in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with COVID-19, it is not clear how the virus enters the brain and how it is spread in the brain.
Researchers from the University Hospital of Saritä in Germany examined the nasopharyngeal and brains of 33 patients who died of COVID-19 – 22 men and 11 women. Nasopharynx is located in the upper part of the throat, connecting the nasal cavity, and is likely the first area to infect and replicate the virus.
The researchers said they found RNA and proteins, the genetic material of the novel coronavirus, in the brain and nasopharynx of patients, and also found complete viral particles in nasopharynx.
They said that the virus RNA levels were found in the mucosa of the olfactory region the highest.
The researchers said that the course of the patient’s disease is inversely proportional to the number of detected viruses, that is, the level of COVID-19 RNA found in patients with a short onset time is higher.
The researchers said that in some patients, COVID-19 spiny proteins have been found in cells expressing neuronal markers in the mucosa of the olfactory region, indicating that sensory neurons in the olfactory region may have been infected, and the areas where the brain receives olfactory and taste signals have also been infected.
They said that COVID-19 has also been found in other areas of the nervous system, including the medulla oblongata that are important respiratory and cardiovascular control centers of the brain.
Research believes that autoimmune patients are “susceptible to” to COVID-19
Reference News Network reported on November 30th that people with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, autoimmune hepatitis, mammary diarrhea, multiple sclerosis or type 1 diabetes are currently living in fear of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Economic News Network of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 24, many experts believe that this situation makes these patients the most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. This is first of all because these diseases themselves cause the body to attack itself, which damages important organs such as the lungs, kidneys, cardiovascular system, etc. Secondly, and more importantly, most of these diseases are treated with immunosuppressants, which increases the risk of infection with the virus.
According to WHO data on the current situation of the epidemic, patients over 60 years old with underlying diseases have the highest mortality rate. The most common diseases are cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, hypertension, kidney disease, etc.
According to the report, a new study has found a relationship between immune-mediated diseases and COVID-19. The researchers first observed that in those patients with systemic autoimmune disease, the “incidence” of COVID-19 disease is higher, generally higher than that of the general population, except for systemic lupus erythematosus.
In this study, authors Ricardo Blanco, Miguel Ángel González-Guy and David Martinez-López set the goal of the study to determine how rheumatism patients are threatened by COVID-19, as well as the probability of infection and symptom characteristics, and verify the use of immunodefinment in these cases. The possible impact of drug production.
Researchers warn that patients with rheumatism caused by immune problems are at greater risk of infection because their pathology is immune-based and they receive different immunosuppressive treatments.
In the study, they observed that these patients had a “higher incidence” of COVID-19. In addition, patients with chronic arthritis who receive bio-directed treatment also show a high incidence.
The researchers reportedly focused on the threat of COVID-19 to patients with immune diseases, and found that risk factors for severe COVID-19 include over 60 years old, men and systemic autoimmune diseases.
Will the novel coronavirus trigger a Parkinson’s disease pandemic?
Reference News Network reported on December 1 that foreign media said that the focus of the controversy was once again on the possible consequences of COVID-19. This time, the scientific community has turned its attention to Parkinson’s disease, and scientists want to know whether COVID-19 is related to the disease.
According to the Economic News Network of Buenos Aires, Argentina, a recent research paper published by the British weekly The Lancet analyzed it. Marcelo Merello, a neurologist in Argentina, Keláš Batia, a British neurologist, and José Owezo, a scientist in related fields in Spain, are the authors of this research paper. “Obviously, COVID-19 can not only cause respiratory diseases, but also affect multiple tissues and organs,” the paper said. It is worth mentioning that COVID-19 affects the central and peripheral nervous systems, which have nothing to do with the severity of respiratory diseases.
The researchers said in the paper: “Up to 85% of patients – including severe patients, mild patients and asymptomatic people – have acute and subacute neurological complications of COVID-19. 65% of patients with COVID-19 have hypoolfactory, which is a common initial symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Because of the previous precedent of developing Parkinson’s disease after suffering from COVID-19, this symptom has attracted the attention of the scientific community.
The paper pointed out: “So far, a total of three cases of Parkinson’s disease have been reported after contracting COVID-19. In this case, detailed clinical data of patients are essential to determine whether there is a causal relationship between Parkinson’s disease and COVID-19. Three patients were relatively young, two of whom were male patients aged 45 and 58 years old and female patients aged 35. Two male patients developed hypertension (45-year-old males also had asthma) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and female patients were healthy before infection.”
One situation puzzled scientists: the sense of smell in both cases (one male and one woman) was affected. Neither male patient had a single-gene problem and no genetic susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease; female patients did not receive genetic testing. All three cases were acute attacks (10 to 32 days after diagnosis of COVID-19). 58-year-old male patients developed ankylosing syndrome, including myoclonus and ocular myoclonus, in the presence of complex neurological manifestations with encephalopathy; the other two patients had asymmetrical ankylosing characteristics, accompanied by tremors and mild respiratory diseases.
Experts said: “One patient showed spontaneous improvement and did not respond to the acute effect of apomorphine; a female patient responded to L-dopa therapy in a short period of time; and a 45-year-old man’s symptoms improved after treatment with dopamine receptor agonists and anticholinergic drugs.”
The report pointed out that it is difficult to judge whether these patients have potential preclinical Parkinson’s disease due to uncertainty about the neurological status of these patients before contracting the novel coronavirus. In the reports of two male cases, the authors of the study clearly pointed out that the patient did not have a history of REM sleep behavior disorder or hypoolfactory before infection. Acute attacks and associations with COVID-19 infection indicate that these cases may develop post-infection Parkinson’s disease. The evidence provided in these three cases is not enough to prompt scientists to link COVID-19 infection to Parkinson’s disease.
The authors of the study said that it is not surprising that patients have transient or permanent Parkinson’s disease after contracting the virus. Parkinson’s disease can occur through different mechanisms: 1. Structural and functional damage to the basal ganglion, mainly involving the dense part of the nigra and the dopamine energy projection of the nigra striatum; 2. In the case of encephalopathy, large-scale inflammation and even hypoxic brain injury occur; 3. Potentially inset of Parkinson’s disease that is not yet symptomatic; 4. Viral infection may trigger a series of processes that lead to long-term Parkinson’s disease in genetically susceptible individuals.
Millions of Americans return home for Thanksgiving. Coronavirus may take the opportunity to “hitchhike”
CNN reported on November 30th, “As travelers spread around the country after Thanksgiving, a natural disaster…is unfolding in all 50 states”. As millions of Americans return home after Thanksgiving, the new crown The virus may take the opportunity to “hitchhike” – and may sow the seeds of infection across the country, with more than 100,000 new cases in the United States for the 27th consecutive day local time on Sunday. The full text of the report is excerpted as follows:
According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University, so far on Sunday local time, 109,671 new confirmed cases and 731 new deaths have been reported in the United States.
The surge in new travel-related infections could overwhelm hospitals. According to the data of the coronavirus tracking project, 93,238 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in the United States on Sunday local time, a record, surpassing 91,635 on Saturday local time.
This is the third time that more than 90,000 people have been hospitalized for the novel coronavirus in a single day – the first time was on November 26, 90,481 people were hospitalized. On the 27th, the number dropped to 89,834. This decline may be due to Thanksgiving, which led to discrepancies in reports.
“It’s impossible for hospitals to be adequately prepared for the situation we’re facing right now,” said emergency physician Megan Lanney.
“It’s like a natural disaster happening in all 50 states at the same time,” Lanny said. There are not enough beds and enough medical staff. In addition, supplies remain inadequate due to lack of national preparedness.”
She said: “In Rhode Island, we are currently planning to open a square cabin hospital on Tuesday local time, because our existing hospitals are full of COVID-19 patients. However, not every state has this option.”
“Even if you open a square cabin hospital, if you have hundreds of healthcare workers who have the virus — and many states across the country face this situation, if there aren’t enough nurses, doctors, and respiratory therapists, even opening a square cabin hospital, it won’t save you. Our healthcare system is really on the verge of collapse right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously advised Americans not to travel during Thanksgiving, Sunday local time is expected to be the busiest day of air travel during the epidemic.
About 6 million Americans travel by plane after the CDC issued a travel advisory the week before Thanksgiving.
However, in a few weeks, you will know how many new infections or even deaths Thanksgiving parties and trips are causing.
“Look at the patients admitted to hospital today, they may have been infected two weeks ago, and there may be more people admitted to the hospital,” said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University. Because it usually takes another week for relatives to confirm that they have contracted the disease.
“So those infected during Thanksgiving will show symptoms three weeks later, and the deaths caused during this period will appear during Christmas and New Year, and will spread in the states,” Lanny said.
In addition, given the long incubation period of the coronavirus and the time it takes for infected people to test positive results, cases of infection during Thanksgiving may not appear in public data until the first week of December at the earliest.
Even before that, COVID-19 was killing Americans at an alarming rate. On the 28th of this month alone, there were at least 1,189 new deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has exceeded 266,000.
