Article content
In the first days of the pandemic, only a few basic symptoms were mentioned in connection with the coronavirus, which included bouts of coughing and high fevers, and sometimes at most headaches or muscle pain were mentioned.
Later it turned out that some more resilient patients exhibit “only” a loss of smell, digestive problems or less obvious symptoms, thanks to which they may not even know about the illness.
Doctors around the world, however, began to record additional symptoms of COVID-19. This time they are neurological in origin.
Independent findings by doctors around the world these days are astonishing the world.
New and seemingly ever more symptoms keep appearing that point to the possibility of infection with the new coronavirus. There are so many of them already that they can easily be mistaken not only for a common flu, but also for allergies, the effects of stress, or the consumption of spoiled food.
A sign that COVID-19 could also have neurological manifestations came with a 74-year-old patient in Florida. He went to the hospital with a cough and fever, but when an X-ray ruled out pneumonia, the doctors sent the senior home.
The next day he returned. Not only had his temperature risen and did he have breathing problems, he could not even remember his own name, and after a while he was no longer able to speak, only waving his arms and seemingly suffering seizures.
The coronavirus was later confirmed in the senior, but at first doctors linked the neurological problems to his Parkinson’s disease.
Similar cases, however, began to multiply in the following days. For example, in Detroit in the United States, where a 50-year-old woman came to the hospital. She complained of a headache, was markedly confused and after a few minutes stopped responding completely. Subsequent brain examinations revealed abnormal swelling, dying cells and extensive inflammation. The diagnosis read: Necrotizing encephalopathy as a result of the presence of the COVID-19 virus.
Very similar cases were gradually reported by doctors from Italy, Spain and other countries. There were even patients in whom seizures and delirium appeared rather than respiratory problems and fevers.
People affected by encephalopathy are typically unfocused to confused, have seizures, behave oddly, or simply stare blankly into space. The fact that such symptoms can be associated with COVID-19 warns doctors around the world to treat patients with these new realities in mind and with maximum caution.
