Virus can spread to heart, brain, other organs to prolong COVID: Study

A new US study seems to have unravelled the mystery behind why COVID-19 symptoms continue to persist in patients long after they have recovered. This scientific breakthrough is also expected to help improve the care of patients afflicted by the coronavirus, said media reports.

A study conducted by the US National Institutes of Health found that the coronavirus can spread from the respiratory system to the heart, brain and other organs. And, this is the key reason why many people experience long COVID, the new comprehensive study has found.

The scientists at the US National Institutes of Health said, according to a Bloomberg report, said that they found the virus has the ability to replicate in human cells much beyond the respiratory tract. The body takes time to get rid of the virus completely but meanwhile, the virus travels from one organ to another and the symptoms continue for months after the COVID-19 patient has recovered.

What the study showed was that the SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in different parts of the body, including the brain. Also, it could reside here as long as 230 days after the symptoms of COVID-19 begin for a patient. These findings are crucial since scientists had been baffled by long COVID for some time. They could not understand why some patients were suffering from long-term pulmonary, cardiovascular and nervous-system problems as well as psychological effects.

Though most long COVID symptoms were not life-threatening, another study published in the journal ‘Nature’ found that sufferers had a 59 per cent increased risk of dying within six months.

WHO’s Definition of long COVID

Also read: Long COVID has diverse symptoms, affects multiple organs: Study

According to the World Health Organization, people with “post COVID-19 condition” have symptoms usually three months after an initial bout of COVID that last for at least two months and can’t be explained by an alternative diagnosis. They are more likely to feel fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive dysfunction, all of which affect everyday functioning. These ailments may appear following recovery from the acute phase of COVID-19, even one with no noticeable symptoms or persist well after the initial illness. Symptoms may also fluctuate or relapse over time.

The methodology of this new US study

The researchers of this US study had taken tissue samples from 44 patients who had died after contracting the COVID in the first year of the pandemic. This was done during their autopsies and within about a day of the patient’s death. Tissue preservation techniques to detect and quantify viral levels were used and the virus collected from multiple tissues, including lung, heart, small intestine and adrenal gland, were grown as well.

The scientists involved in the study said that their results revealed that though the “highest burden” of SARS-CoV-2 was found in the airways and lung, the virus could in the early stages infect cells throughout the entire body. It could also spread throughout the brain.

Significant findings

The results of this study are considered to be highly significant. Scientists for a long time now had been confused over long COVID and the reason why it seemed to affect so many organ systems. This paper now sheds some light, and may help explain why long COVID can occur even in people who had mild or asymptomatic acute disease, said news reports.

The findings however have not been reviewed by independent scientists, and are mostly based on data gathered from fatal COVID cases. The samples have not been obtained from long COVID patients.