COVID-19 pandemia: Neuropsychiatric comorbidity and consequences

ABSTRACT

Infection with the new corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) was first registered in December 2019 in China, and then later spread rapidly to the rest of the world. On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) informed the public for the first time about causes of pneumonia of unknown origin, in the city of Wuhan (Hubei Province, China), in people who were epidemiologically linked to a seafood and wet animal whole sale local market in Wuhan. Coronavirus disease, called CO VID-19 (Corona virus disease 2019), after China quickly spread to most countries in the world, and the WHO on March 11, 2020 declared a pandemic with this virus. SARS-CoV-2, has a high level of sequential similarities to the SARS-CoV-1 and uses the same receptors when it enters the human body (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2/ACE2). COVID-19 is respiratory infection that is primarily transmitted via respiratory droplets. Typical symptoms of COVID-19 infection can be very moderate (infected can be even asymptomatic) to very severe, with severe respiratory symptoms (bilateral severe pneumonia), septic shock, and fatal outcome. Numerous unknowns regarding the biological, epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, still exist, and make it impossible to predict with certainty the further course of the current pandemic. COVID-19 is primarily a disease of the respiratory system, but SARS-CoV-2, in a number of patients also penetrates the CNS, and apparently could be responsible for fatal outcome in some cases. The entry of the virus into the brain can lead to neurological and psychiatric manifestations, which are not uncommon, including headache, paresthesia, myalgia, impaired consciousness, confusion or delirium and cerebrovascular diseases. SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals should be evaluated in a timely manner for neurological and psychiatric symptoms because treatment of infection-related neurological and psychiatric complications is an important factor in better prognosis of severe COVID-19 patients.From the current point of view, it seems that in COVID-19 survivors, in the coming years and decades, the inflammatory systemic process and/or the inflammatory process of the brain could trigger long-term mechanisms that generally lead to an increase of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. Psychosocial consequences as well as consequences for mental health are also significant, both for the general population and especially for health workers of all profiles. COVID-19 pandemic is associated with negative psychosocial consequences, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, anger and stress, sleep disorders, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, social isolation, loneliness and stigmatization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)