Brit tested positive for virus for 10 straight months; Coronavirus can infect brain cells: study

The Hague: The coronavirus can infect brain cells, leading to a reaction that could possibly trigger neurological and psychological complaints, Dutch researchers said on Thursday.

Although the spread of coronavirus rapidly stops, leading to limited damage after entering the brain via the nose, it triggers cytokines, small proteins that act as messengers within the immune system, said the study published in the US-based mSphere microbiology journal.

"These can play a role in local infections... that possibly contribute to neurological and psychological complaints among many (ex) patients," said the study, done by the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

"What we saw was similar to the fact that infection by SARS-CoV-2 seldom leads to serious encephalitis in which the virus spreads uncontrollably through the brain," said Debby van Riel, virologist at Erasmus University.

"But the fact that SARS-CoV-2 possibly can enter the brain via the olfactory nerve and locally infect cells, which leads to an inflammatory response, can certainly contribute to neurological disorders," she said in a statement.

Since the coronavirus pandemic started, patients around the world have reported neurological and psychiatric disorders such as memory problems, headaches, rare psychoses and in some cases encephalitis.

One in three people who contracted Covid were diagnosed with these disorders within six months of being infected, said a large study published in April in The Lancet Psychiatry specialist journal.

Growing data has indicated that the virus could enter the brain via the olfactory nerve, the Erasmus study added. However, what happens when the virus entered the brain remained poorly understood, it said.

"Apart from our findings, the immune system probably also plays a role," said Femke de Vrij of Erasmus’ psychiatry department. "More research is needed," she added.

"We have now observed the virus in cells over a short period of time. We also just looked at a limited number of brain cells," said De Vrij, adding that further research "will tell us more about what the viral infection does with brain structures over the short and longer term."

Meanwhile, a 72-year-old British man tested positive for coronavirus for 10 months in what is thought to be the longest recorded case of continuous infection, researchers said on Thursday. Dave Smith, a retired driving instructor from Bristol in western England, said he tested positive 43 times, was hospitalised seven times and had made plans for his funeral.

"I’d resigned myself, I’d called the family in, made my peace with everybody, said goodbye,", he told BBC television. His wife, Linda, who quarantined with him at home, said: "There was a lot of times when we didn’t think he was going to pull through. It’s been a hell of a year".

Ed Moran, a consultant in infectious diseases at the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust, said Smith "had active virus in his body" throughout. "We were able to prove that by sending a sample of his virus to university partners who managed to grow it, proving that it was not just left-over products that were triggering a PCR test but actually active, viable virus."

Smith recovered after treatment with a cocktail of synthetic antibodies developed by the US biotech firm Regeneron. This was allowed on compassionate grounds in his case but the treatment regime is not clinically approved for use in Britain.

Results of a clinical trial published this month showed the treatment reduced deaths among severe Covid patients who are unable to mount a strong immune response. "It’s like you’ve been given your life back", Smith told the BBC. He and his wife cracked open a bottle of champagne when he finally tested negative, 45 days after receiving the Regeneron drug and some 305 days after his first infection.

Smith’s treatment was not part of an official medical trial but his case is now being studied by virologist Andrew Davidson at the University of Bristol. In a related development, Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman said on Thursday has been forced to shut his London restaurant because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The veteran rocker, 84, issued a statement that the global health crisis had forced him to close Sticky Fingers in Kensington, west London, after 32 years. "My heart goes out to all those affected by Covid," he said.

"I also have the sad news to report that my beloved Sticky Fingers restaurant has closed for the last time because of the pandemic." Wyman, known as the "Quiet One", was bassist for the Stones from 1962 to 1993 before branching out with his own band Rhythm Kings, as well as devoting more time to photography and art. Sticky Fingers -- named after the band’s 1971 album -- served American favourites such as burgers and chicken wings, and was adorned with Stones’ memorabilia.