Potential neurological symptoms of COVID-19

Wang, Hai-Yang; Li, Xue-Lin; Yan, Zhong-Rui; Sun, Xiao-Pei; Han, Jie; Zhang, Bing-Wei

cephalomyelitis. 9 SARS-CoV has also been detected in the sera and cerebrospinal fluids of two patients with persistent epilepsy and SARS. 10 A recent report firstly shows that SARS-CoV-2 can also attack and damage the nervous system, with detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the cerebrospinal fluid. 11 With the outbreak of COVID-19, we should be vigilant for the presence of neurological symptoms similar to those reported Due to a lack of clear and specific clinical symptoms in the patients mentioned above, diagnosis of COVID-19 is especially challenging, which may lead to missed or erroneous diagnoses that may increase the chance of transmitting the infection. In addition, due to the absence of fever and respiratory symptoms, such patients with COVID-19 may ignore or be unaware of their illness. Since infected patients are contagious during the incubation period, these patients with atypical presentations represent an important hidden source of the spread of the virus. Therefore, medical staff should inquire about the medical history of each patient in more detail. For such atypical cases, timely routine blood tests, respiratory-tract pathogen tests, and chest computed tomographies should be conducted. Furthermore, protective measures should be taken to avoid the risk of exposure to medical staff and other patients.