mental health consequences

THE ESSENTIAL

• According to an American study, the coronavirus could trigger attacks of delirium.
• To reach this conclusion, the researchers draw on the SARS and MERS epidemics of 2002 and 2012.
• In its acute form, these diseases could have consequences for mental health.

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The spectrum of possible Covid-19 sequelae is widening week after week. Loss of taste and smell, scarring of the lungs, cardiovascular complications … The list of physiological damage due to Covid-19 continues to grow. American researchers have studied the mental pathologies caused by this virus. To do this, they listed all the disorders identified in people with severe forms of coronavirus in the past. They notably relied on SARS and MERS, which prevailed in 2002 and 2012.

Possibility of delirium at an acute stage

The results of this study, published in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry, show that “if SARS-CoV-2 infection follows a pattern similar to that of SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV, most patients should recover without suffering from mental illness. ” The researchers warn, however: “SARS-CoV-2 could cause delirium in a significant proportion of patients in the acute stage. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of depression, anxiety, fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder and more rare long-term neuropsychiatric syndromes. ”

We note that in the case of SARS and MERS, one in three hospitalized patients described the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder. Similarly, a year after the disease, 15% of patients mentioned the appearance of depression and anxiety and as many complained of fatigue, stress, sleep disturbances and mood swings. These sequelae could be directly linked to the decrease in the amount of oxygen reaching the brain, in the case of severe respiratory failure.

This data analysis lists the psychiatric pathologies observed in 3,559 hospitalized patients, thus compiling 1,963 studies and 87 pre-publications. The age of patients studied ranges from 12 to 68 years. Publications came from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, Saudi Arabia, France, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Patient follow-up time after illness depends on studies, ranging from 60 days to 12 years.

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