Serious neurological complications possible after COVID-19 — expert

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Serious neurological complications are possible after COVID-19, however, there is no data on its incidence, Mikhail Martynov, the chief visiting neurologist of the Russian Health Ministry, said on Friday. "Serious neurological disorders as COVID-19 complications include cerebral apoplexies (hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes), infections of the central nervous systems, such as meningoencephalomyelitis, disseminated encephalomyelitis, as well as peripheral nervous system disorders, such as autoimmune polyneuropathies. So far, we have no data on the frequency of such disorders," he said. According to Martynov, there are a lot of publications both in Russian and foreign medical journals about isolated cases and sets of observations of patients with neurological complications after COVID-19. In his words, it is believed now that brain disorders after COVID-19 happen indirectly in most of the cases, through a systemic inflammatory reaction, autoimmune processes, and endothelial dysfunctions. He noted that some symptoms may stay for weeks or even months after the disease. "They don’t differ much from the symptom of COVID-19 acute phase and are registered in cases of severe forms of the disease. The only protection against COVID-19, which may cause serious complications, is vaccination," the expert stressed. Read more