The coronavirus 2019 virus, or COVID-19, is a pretty common subject nowadays. It's currently causing a pandemic (a worldwide outbreak of a disease that exceeds the expected amount of cases). Countries all over the world are isolating and quarantining themselves, and for good reason.
Some of you may not know much about the COVID-19 virus. The virus is caused by SARS-CoV-19, but it is commonly called COVID-19. It causes an upper respiratory tract infection and is highly contagious, spread by droplets of mucous in the air that have been released from a cough or sneeze of a person who is carrying the virus.
Some of the most common symptoms seen from COVID-19 patients are dry cough and shortness of breath. A dry cough is a cough that isn't accompanied by mucous, as you would usually see with something like seasonal allergies or a sinus infection (sinusitis). More severe symptoms may occur with some patients, and these include more flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, headache, sore throat, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, or new loss of taste or smell (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
But how does the coronavirus cause these symptoms? That's what I am wondering. So today, I did a little bit of research. This post shares my findings.
I've heard speculations that the COVID-19 virus impacts the nervous system. This is my biggest concern. "Doctors [are] seeing strokes, seizures, loss of smell, [and] other neurological symptoms in virus patients," (Rachel Nania). How is the virus causing these complications?
Well, researchers are still learning what they can about the coronavirus. It's a novel (new) disease, so we don't yet know all that we would like to know about COVID-19. Neurologically, dizziness and headaches are most commonly seen, but more severe symptoms, like previously listed (i.e., stroke, seizures, loss of smell, etc.) are also seen (Rachel Novia).
Researchers have a few proposals for why the virus causes damage to the immune system. Symptoms are usually caused by the body's immune system fighting off the pathogen, so one of the proposed hypotheses is that the damage is caused by the reactions of the immune system. "When the body fights the virus that causes the flu, for example, an immune response can trigger dizziness and headaches, says Igor Koralnik, professor of neurology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine," (Rachel Nania). As a nursing student, this is the hypothesis that I most support. Keep in mind, however, that it is not yet known what the exact cause of these symptoms is.
As researchers learn more about the virus, I get more and more worried. We are facing a virus that we do not know much about, and that can be a major concern. The best thing we can do right now is to be smart. Stay away from other people and take care of yourselves. I wish you all the best.
Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Coronavirus Disease 2019 Basics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 22 April 2020. Web. 2 May 2020.
Nania, Rachel. "This Is What the Coronavirus Can Do to Your Brain." AARP. AARP. 28 April 2020. Web. 2 May 2020.