How Covid-19 virus attacks the brain?

Team Udayavani, Sep 11, 2020, 2:24 PM IST

Initially, Covid-19 virus was thought to impact only the respiratory system of the body, but according to a new study, in some people, the coronavirus invades brain cells, hijacking them to make copies of itself.

According to Nytimes, The study was posted online on Wednesday, Sep 9 and has not yet been vetted by experts for publication.

The report claims that Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University who led the new study, documented brain infection in three ways: in brain tissue from a person who died of Covid-19, in a mouse model, and in organoids, clusters of brain cells in a lab dish meant to mimic the brain’s three-dimensional structure

Earlier, there were several studies showing the impact of Covid-19 virus on brain. According to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry, almost half of the 125 coronavirus patients admitted in the UK hospitals suffered from brain inflammation, while the other half had a stroke owing to a blood clot.

Also, Another study published in the journal Brain highlighted the neurological symptoms caused by the novel coronavirus.

It is said that the virus may get to the brain through the olfactory bulb  which regulates smell  through the eyes or even from the bloodstream.

However, It is still unclear how the virus gets to the brain or how often it sets off this trail of destruction.