Coronavirus: 1,700 people die every week around the world – Elderly people are at risk of brain blurry

Symptoms of brain blurry, cognitive attenuation and fatigue present several people worldwide, in particular, who, due to their summer rush, send thousands of people back to hospitals and unfortunately some of them end up. Statistical data on the summer growth of coronavirus cases worldwide show that despite problems and long-term COVID-19, elderly people are not vaccinated. During summer months, in fact, the majority of Europeans travel, while millions of people travel internationally (e.g. Olympic Games), or immigration reasons, are being moved internationally. The period of travel restrictions, however, (closure of borders, mandatory diagnostic tests and use of masks, vaccine certificates) is – fortunately – a past. According to the pathologist, professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine of the Therapeutic Clinic (Alexandra Hospital) of the Medical School of the EKPA Theodora Psaltopoulou and biologist Panagiota Zachraki, in statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), it seems that more than 1,700 people are still dying worldwide every week from Covid-19, while the coverage of vaccines is reduced to vulnerable populations (i.e. persons over 60 years of age and people with serious co-accurities). According to the same epidemiological data, in the first quarter of 2024 only 0.42% of older people received a vaccination dose for coronavirus worldwide. According to WHO data (May 2024), since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and to date more than 775 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 7 million deaths worldwide. The same report says that according to viral loads detected through sewage surveillance, the actual case load actually appears to be, from 2 to 20 times higher. Also, in a study carried out on the risk of transmission of COVID and published in May 2024, it appeared that long-hour air travel without masking increases by 25 times the probability of getting stuck, compared to short-distance and long-distance air travel. The brain blur after Long Covid According to a recent publication in the prestigious international magazine the Lancet (July 2024), more symptoms of brain blurry (“brain fog”) and fatigue after acute infection are analysed. Although more than 4 years have passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, it is estimated – as researchers describe – that 10–20% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 still have symptoms after infection. Fatigue and cognitive disorder are the most common symptoms of long-term COVID. Data from multicentre cohort showed that at 9 months after infection 176 (5.8%) of the 3038 participants had both fatigue and cognitive deficits, as assessed by the Montreal cognitive assessment scale and functional evaluation of chronic disease-cutting therapy respectively. Of those with timeless data, 197 (22.2%) of 889 participants had cognitive deficits and 468 (22.4%) of 2092 participants had fatigue at baseline. In a 26-month follow-up, 84 (42.6%) of 197 participants with cognitive deficits and 254 (54.3%) of 468 participants with fatigue had persistent symptoms, suggesting that these conditions may be transient for some people but persistent for others. Fatigue was associated with headache and depression. Vaccines reduce cognitive impairment after Long Covid Anti-COVID-19 vaccines are effective in reducing the incidence of severe COVID-19, mortality and transmission to the community. A multinational study of primary care records of 10 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 and 10 million people not vaccinated against COVID-19, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine in March 2024, revealed that vaccination against COVID-19 reduced the risk of long-term COVID occurrence. However, a prospective study of participants 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and 24 months after COVID-19 infection, published in scientific reports in January 2024, found that the frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms did not differ based on COVID-19, the vaccination status or the number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine received. An increasing number of data has shown that COVID-19 infection can affect the brain through different mechanisms that affect cognitive function and fatigue. For example, a prospective observation study of 50 participants with neurological symptoms for at least 3 months after COVID-19 infection published in April 2023, revealed characteristic structural-imaging alterations of the chamber and key ganglia that conceal symptoms of persistent fatigue. Where the brain problem is detected A functional connectivity control study in calm state in 52 participants 27 months after COVID-19 infection published in The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific in June 2024, showed that decreased brain activity in the left upper temporal propeller was associated with an increased score of mental fatigue and cognitive deficit. Finally, a study published in Nature Neuroscience in February 2024, found evidence of blood-brain barrier disorder up to 1 year after COVID-19 infection in temporal lobes and frontal cortex of the brain. Currently, there is no cure for brain blurring and brain fatigue caused by long-term COVID-19, but international efforts are being made and significant funding is given, which aim to bring together clinical physicians, researchers, scientists, caregivers, patients and community members to understand and effectively treat long-term COVID. By Janna Soulaki / iatropedia.gr