Corona: Neurologists believe that viruses can “most likely” attack the brain

Workers in protective clothing disinfect a house because of the corona crisis. Image: www.imago-images.de / Hindustan Times via www.imago-images.de

–

Neurologists: Coronavirus can “most likely” attack the brain

It is one of the lesser known symptoms of Covid 19 disease: Some patients lose their sense of smell and taste. The virologist Christian Streeck, who is currently carrying out a large-scale study in the Heinsberg district, first reported on this.

After a while, he noticed more and more infected people who could no longer smell or taste anything. However, they did not have a stuffy nose, as we know from colds.

In the meantime there is also a guess what is behind it. Neurologists believe that the loss of smell and taste in some infected people suggests that the coronavirus is also attacking the brain.

Other corona viruses also attack the brain

“It is very likely,” Uwe Meier, chairman of the professional association of German neurologists, told watson. In China, a number of neurological complications related to the infections have been described. Corresponding reports also increased in Europe. “Other corona viruses are also known to attack the brain.”

Peter Berlit, General Secretary of the German Society for Neurology, sees it the same way. “It is most likely”he says to watson.

The two experts can also explain exactly how the sense of smell is lost: “Because the olfactory nerve is affected, which in turn is directly connected to the olfactory brain”, replies Berlit.

Neurologist Meier explains that sensations of taste and smell came from nerves in the tongue and in the nose area. “From there they are passed on to the brain, where they are perceived, interpreted and brought to consciousness as a sensual experience.”

What is the difference to colds

The difference to colds is that the Inability to taste and smell occurred in Covid 19 patients who had no mucus. “In addition, patients report olfactory hallucinations, that is, odor perceptions that cannot be traced back to a real source of odor and that can only arise in the olfactory brain,” says Meier. All of this suggests an attack on the nervous system and the brain.

Berlit also points out that impairment of the respiratory tract can also temporarily affect the sense of smell, but not the sense of taste. “And after a virus flu, there is often a permanent olfactory disorder.” As is well known, this is not the case with colds.