A new study carried by researchers at the Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, United States, stated that Covid-19 has protean in its manifestations. Protean means that the virus is versatile or capable of doing many things at a time.

This also affirms that the infection comes with multiple symptoms from fever and cough to loss of sense of smell and breathlessness.

The study, published in the journal Neurology , further stated that pre-existing neurological syndromes can raise the risk of Covid-19 deaths after hospitalisation.

Study design

For the study, the researchers collected data on 4,711 Covid-19 patients at New York City’s Montefiore Health System during a six-week period in March and April 2020.

Of these, 581 (12 per cent) had pre-existing neurological conditions that required neuro-imaging on admission.

‘Covid-19 is not over, be prepared for surprises’

The patients with neurological conditions demonstrated four patterns of neurological manifestations: acute stroke, new or recurrent seizures, confusion, and neuro- Covid-19 complex.

The researchers then compared disease progression in these patients to 1,743 Covid-19 patients of the same age and disease-severity but with no neurological issues.

Results

Of the 581 patients, 55 suffered a radiologically confirmed stroke, and 258 experienced confusion. The researchers found that the 55 patients who had a stroke had increased odds of mortality, compared to those without any neurological problems with a high odds ratio (OR) of 3.1, the study stated.

Similarly, patients with confusion had increased odds of mortality, compared to those without neurological problems due to an estimated OR of 1.39. These differences in the odds of mortality between Covid-19 patients with neurological manifestations and those without neurological manifestations are not that drastic, but still statistically significant.

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