New research reveals coronavirus can linger in the brain for months. Read to know what the autopsies reveal.
Conovirus in the brain: SARS-CoV-2 lingers for several months
A new analysis of tissue samples from the autopsies of those who died from the virus reveals how SARS-CoV-2 spreads through the human body. A team of researchers from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) analyzed tissue samples from autopsies between April 2020 to March 2021. Their extensive sampling from the brain and rest of the nervous system in 11 patients, All patients died due to COVID-19 and were unvaccinated. The median interval between the onset of symptoms and demise was 18.5 days.
30 percent of the patients were females with a median age of 62.5 years. Additionally, 61.4 percent of patients had a minimum of three comorbidities. The study issued in Nature revealed how coronavirus primarily affects and damages lung and airway tissue. Additionally, researchers were successful in isolating RNA from 84 different locations and bodily fluids. Moreover, in one case, they were successful in isolating RNA 230 days after the onset of symptoms.
More on the autopsies
Researchers were able to detect Coronavirus RNA and protein in the brain, specifically in the hypothalamus, cerebellum, and basal ganglia, in addition to the spinal cord. However, “despite substantial viral burden,” there was little brain tissue damage. “We demonstrated virus replication in multiple non-respiratory sites during the first two weeks following symptom onset,” stated the authors of the study.
The researchers were also successful in solving viable coronavirus samples from myriad tissues outside the respiratory tract. This includes the brain, lymph nodes, adrenal gland, eye, heart, and gastrointestinal tract. However, previously, “the thinking in the field was that SARS-CoV-2 was predominantly a respiratory virus,” stated Daniel Chertow. Chertow is a senior author of the study from NIH.