These are two recent studies that warn, once again, of the risk of suffering a prolonged cognitive deficit, a year after contracting Covid-19. The first, published at the beginning of October in the magazine the lancetrefers to young, healthy subjects who have been voluntarily infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and who have developed mild Covid. The second, published on September 23 in the newspaper Nature medicinefollowed people, average age 54, who had been hospitalized with severe Covid.
In both cases, the infection seems to cause a prolonged deterioration in cognitive abilities, slightly in young people and more pronounced in older people. “Covid-19 is not always a one shot which we get rid of completely: the infection can cause prolonged cognitive sequelae, even very probably mild ones”summarizes Mahmoud Zureik, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin (Yvelines).
These are, in fact, not the first studies to warn about the phenomenon. SARS-CoV-2 certainly shows a strong tropism for the respiratory tract (nose, throat and lungs), but it can also affect other organs: the microvessels, the heart, the kidneys, the digestive system… and the brain, hence . But this is not about examining the neurological complications that occur during the severe acute phases of the disease: stroke, delirium or confusion, neuromuscular disorders, etc.
“Worrying result”
The study published by Tea Lancet However, he does not talk about “Long Covid” when it comes to Young patients are monitored, since objectively measurable cognitive disorders are mild. Furthermore, if tests highlight these deficiencies, patients do not notice them.
William Trender and his colleagues at Imperial College and King’s College London recruited thirty-four volunteer participants, aged 18 to 30, who were given a very low dose of SARS-CoV-2 (parent strain). was injected. Only eighteen of them were infected and the researchers were able to compare the infected group with the uninfected group. They were also able to evaluate cognitive functions before and after infection, with each volunteer being their own control. “The result is worrying, because these healthy young people present mild cognitive deficits, which persist at least a year after infection”summarizes Lisa Chakrabarti, from the Pasteur Institute in Paris. “This deterioration is small, but significant. “It is all the more important as the viral load is high.”adds Zureik.
You have 60.92% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
