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Autopsy tissue samples from 44 people who died of COVID-19 showed that Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has spread throughout the body, including the brain. Traces of the virus persist even for 8 months.
A US study examined tissue from 44 autopsies of people who died after infection with Sars-CoV-2. Their results confirm the presence of the virus in many parts of the body, including the brain.
Results from 44 autopsies of covid patients
Scientists took tissue samples from 44 people who died of Covid-19. None of these people had been vaccinated against Covid. In this group, 30% were women, 61.4% had three or more comorbidities, and the median age was 62.5 years. Overall, the time from onset of symptoms to death averaged 18.5 days.
The autopsies were carried out between April 2020 and March 2021. They made it possible to collect tissue samples from the nervous system and in particular from the brain, in 11 of the 44 patients. Plasma was also collected. In 38 patients he tested positive for the disease, three tested negative and plasma was not available for the last three.
Viral RNA everywhere in the body
The authors wanted to evaluate the dissemination of the virus in the body of these patients. Unsurprisingly, Sars-CoV-2 has been found in the airways and lung tissue – where it is known to do damage.
But more surprisingly, the virus has also been found in 84 locations in the body and in certain fluids (brain, heart, lymph nodes, gastrointestinal tract, adrenal gland and eyes). In one patient, viral RNA was even isolated from his body 230 days after the onset of his symptoms, nearly eight months later.
A high viral load in the brain but little damage
Finally, the authors explain that they detected viral RNA in the hypothalamus and cerebellum of one patient and in the spinal cord and lymph nodes of two other patients. But they add that they found little brain tissue damage,”despite a high viral load”. “We have demonstrated virus replication in multiple non-respiratory sites within the first two weeks of symptom onset“add the scientists.
A link with the long Covid?
The lead author of this study, Daniel Chertow, believes that prior to the work, “the thinking on the ground was that Sars-CoV-2 was primarily a respiratory virus”. For him, their main discovery – – the viral presence throughout the body – notably “helped scientists” in their research on a possible link between infected organs, including the brain, and Covid long.