The role of neurotropism in psychiatric patients with COVID-19
- PDF / 379,314 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 29 Downloads / 179 Views
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The role of neurotropism in psychiatric patients with COVID‑19 Ailyn D. Diaz1 · Raman Baweja1 Received: 27 June 2020 / Accepted: 17 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-2019) has a significant negative psychological impact on psychiatric patients as compared to healthy controls with higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (31. 6%), moderate to severe anxiety (23%), depressive symptoms (22.4%), and suicidal ideations (11.8%) [1]. Psychiatric patients are especially vulnerable for infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the respiratory disease state known as COVID-19 [2]. Medical comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension, magnify the risk of infection in the psychiatric population [1, 2]. Factors such as impaired decision making, general psychomotor retardation, and poor adherence to social distancing can contribute to the susceptibility of infection [2]. Moreover, psychiatric patients might not be aware of their personal space or be adherent to self-protection methods, such as handwashing or wearing masks. This poor adherence is especially dangerous due to the mode of transmission of SARS-CoV-2; it spreads mainly through respiratory inhalation of aerosolized droplets through human-to-human spread via asymptomatic incubation carriers [3]. As the viral respiratory droplets are inhaled, it can spread to the lower respiratory tract causing dyspnea and, in some cases, attacking the central nervous system [4, 5]. Due to the role of neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2, the psychiatric complications of COVID-19 and the associated immunoreactivity of the viral illness, should be evaluated by clinicians since exposed psychiatric patients can potentially display an exacerbation of psychosis and mood symptoms. The complications of COVID-19 in the central nervous systems are not uncommon and most likely caused by the invasive nature of the virus on neurons [4]. In a recent retrospective study of 214 patients in China with lab-confirmed COVID-19, 34% displayed neurological manifestations, including an array of symptoms ranging from dizziness, * Raman Baweja [email protected] 1
Department of Psychiatry and Behavior Health, Penn State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, H073, Hershey, PA 17033‑0850, USA
ataxia, impaired consciousness to acute cerebrovascular disease [5]. An earlier study during the initial outbreak in China showed that patients exhibited other neurological manifestations, such as headaches, nausea, and fatigue [3]. Despite known clinical and empirical research on neurological symptoms, there is limited knowledge of psychiatric complications with the disease. In general, coronaviruses possess a positive-sense single-stranded RNA with an outer envelope and a crown-like shape [2, 3]. SARS-CoV-2 is one of the seven known coronaviruses to affect humans along with HCo-V-229E, HCoVOC43. HCoV-NL63, HCoV-HKU1, which causes mild upper respir
Data Loading...
