Lungs Might Be The Main Battlefield, But Coronavirus Attacks The Body Like Its A World War
As more research continues to emerge on how patients are affected by the virus, the scope of the damage that's done on the body is crystallizing. The virus goes after not only the lungs, but the heart, kidneys, skin and other organs. In other scientific news: virus found in semen, blood thinners show promise in treating severe patients, racial disparities found outside the U.S., and more.
The Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Hijacks The Body From Head To Toe, Perplexing Doctors
Garvon Russell was having trouble breathing when he arrived sick with Covid-19 at a New York City emergency room. By the time he left the hospital two weeks later, he had battled the new coronavirus all over his body. His lungs were inflamed, their tiny air sacs filled with fluid that made it hard for oxygen to get into his bloodstream. His kidneys failed with Mr. Russell in septic shock from his infection. Then, when it looked like he had turned the corner, his bedside nurse noticed his left leg was swollen. Doctors found a blood clot in a deep vein. (McKay and Hernandez, 5/7)
The New York Times:
In The Fight To Treat Coronavirus, Your Lungs Are A Battlefield
Ventilators have become the single most important piece of medical equipment for critically ill coronavirus patients whose damaged lungs prevent them from getting enough oxygen to vital organs. The machines work by forcing air deep into the lungs, dislodging the fluid and accumulated pus that interfere with the exchange of oxygen, a process orchestrated by tiny air sacs known as alveoli. (Grondahl, Jacobs and Buchanan, 5/8)
The New York Times:
Coronavirus May Lurk In Semen, Researchers Report
Scientists across the world are trying to piece together a perplexing puzzle: how exactly coronavirus affects the body, and how it spreads from person to person. In recent months, they have learned that the virus can live on some surfaces for three days and that it can stay suspended in tiny aerosolized droplets for about 30 minutes. The virus has been detected in saliva, urine and feces. Now researchers in China have found that the coronavirus, or bits of it, may linger in semen. (Murphy, 5/7)
CNN:
Coronavirus Found In Men's Semen
A team at Shangqiu Municipal Hospital tested 38 male patients treated there at the height of the pandemic in China, in January and February.
About 16% of them had evidence of the coronavirus in their semen, the team reported in the journal JAMA Network Open. About a quarter of them were in the acute stage of infection and nearly 9% of them were recovering, the team reported. (Fox, 5/7)
The Washington Post:
Blood Thinners Show Promise For Increasing Sickest Coronavirus Patients’ Chances Of Survival
Treating coronavirus patients with blood thinners could help boost their prospects for survival, according to preliminary findings from physicians at New York City’s largest hospital system that offer another clue about treating the deadly condition. The results of an analysis of 2,733 patients, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, are part of a growing body of information about what has worked and what has not during a desperate few months in which doctors have tried dozens of treatments to save those dying of covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. (Cha, 5/7)
CIDRAP:
Autopsies Of COVID-19 Patients Reveal Clotting Concerns
A study of autopsy findings of the first 12 patients who died of COVID-19 in a hospital in Hamburg, Germany, has found that 7 (58%) of them had undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis, suggesting that the virus may cause abnormal blood clotting. In the prospective cohort study, published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers discovered that the direct cause of death in four patients was massive pulmonary embolism from deep vein blood clots in the legs that lodged in a lung artery, causing a blockage. (Van Beusekom, 5/7)
The Washington Post:
Blacks In Britain Are Four Times As Likely To Die Of Coronavirus As Whites, Data Show
Coronavirus is no great equalizer, and new data out of Britain underscore how certain ethnic groups are more at risk: Blacks are four times as likely to die of covid-19 as whites, according to the Office for National Statistics. This, however, is not a surprise to many in these communities, whose members are more vulnerable to the virus because of their health and economic disadvantages, and perhaps other reasons yet to be isolated. (Adam and Berger, 5/7)
ABC News:
8-Year-Old Rushed To Hospital Due To Mystery Illness Linked To COVID-19
Jayden Hardowar, 8, of Richmond Hill, Queens, spiked a mild fever sometime around April 23. A pediatrician told Jayden's parents not to worry and to continue taking children's Tylenol, his father, Roup Hardowar, told ABC News on Thursday... But on April 29, while watching Pokemon on TV, Jayden called out for his mother and threw his hands up, struggling for air before going into cardiac arrest. (Moehlman, 5/7)
Boston Globe:
Is It Coronavirus Or Something Else? Harvard Medical School Study Offers Insight For Clinicians Evaluating Symptoms
A recent Harvard Medical School study offers insights on determining whether patients with coronavirus symptoms are infected with the contagion or with a different ailment. The study, published April 20 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, was conducted by researchers at the medical school and Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance, the school said in a statement. Researchers crunched data from 1,000 patients who visited an outpatient COVID-19 clinic in Greater Boston. (Andersen, 5/7)
Kaiser Health News:
Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care
The patient described it as the worst headache of her life. She didn’t go to the hospital, though. Instead, the Washington state resident waited almost a week. When Dr. Abhineet Chowdhary finally saw her, he discovered she had a brain bleed that had gone untreated. The neurosurgeon did his best, but it was too late. (Stone and Yu, 5/7)
