High incidence of neurological symptoms reported with COVID-19

An article originally published in The Conversation by Jeremy Rossman at the University of Kent discusses  how we are starting to observe an increase in the reports of neurological symptoms in up to a third of patients with COVID-19. You can read the original article here.

[H/T: Inverse]

In a great majority of cases of the virus, a respiratory infection with fever, aches, tiredness, sore throat, cough and finally, shortness of breath and respiratory distress in the more severe cases, was observed.

We now know COVID-19 can infect cells outside the respiratory tract thus causing a wide range of symptoms such as gastrointestinal disease (diarrhea and nausea),  heart damage and blood clotting disorders. We need to add neurological symptoms to this list, too.

Several recent studies have identified the presence of neurological symptoms in COVID-19 cases.

In some of these studies there are reports where symptoms are observed in individuals. There have been several reports where Covid-19 patients are suffering from Guillain–Barré syndrome, which is a neurological disorder whereby the immune system responds to an infection and ends up mistakenly attacking nerve cells, resulting in muscle weakness and eventually paralysis.

In several other case studies, severe COVID-19 encephalitis--brain inflammation and swelling--and stroke in healthy young people with otherwise mild Covid-19 symptoms.

Larger studies from Communist China and France have also investigated the prevalence of neurological disorders in Covid-19 patients. It was shown that 36 percent of patients have neurological symptoms and included mild symptoms such as headache or dizziness that might be caused by robust immune response.

But more specific and severe symptoms were also observed that include loss of smell or taste, muscle weakness, stroke, seizure, and hallucinations.

These symptoms are seen more often in severe cases, with estimates ranging from 46% to 84% of severe cases showing neurological symptoms. Changes in consciousness, such as disorientation, inattention, and movement disorders, were also seen in severe cases and found to persist after recovery.

This should scare people at least to the point of maintaining caution once they return to work or go out in public.

Crossing the blood-brain barrier — SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, may cause neurological disorders by directly infecting the brain or as a result of the strong activation of the immune system.

Recent studies have found the novel coronavirus in the brains of fatal cases of COVID-19. It has also been suggested that infection of olfactory neurons in the nose may enable the virus to spread from the respiratory tract to the brain.

Cells in the human brain express the ACE2 protein on their surface. ACE2 is a protein involved in blood pressure regulation and is the receptor the virus uses to enter and infect cells. ACE2 is also found on endothelial cells that line blood vessels. Infection of endothelial cells may allow the virus to pass from the respiratory tract to the blood and then across the blood-brain barrier into the brain. Once in the brain, replication of the virus may cause neurological disorders.

Respiratory viruses getting into the brain is thankfully a rare occurrence. But with millions of COVID-19 infections worldwide, there is the risk of significant neurological disease, especially in severe cases.

It is important to be aware of the possibility of neurological manifestations of COVID-19, both during acute illness as well as the possibility of long-term effects. This also highlights the continued importance of preventing viral transmission and identifying those who are and have been, infected.

Other coronaviruses have also been found to infect the brain and cause neurological disorders. The related seasonal coronavirus, HCoV-OC43, typically causes very mild respiratory symptoms but can also cause encephalitis in humans. Similarly, the coronavirus that causes Mers and the 2003 Sars virus can cause severe neurological disorders.

So keep wearing your mask, maintain physical distance from others outside your family at home, and always be aware of not touching your face.

 And continue washing your hands whenever you come home. Please stay safe.



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China: 'The dog ate our homework, so we ate the dog'

Fudan University

China'a two leading university websites had published academic research about the origins of the Communist Chinese Wuhan Wet Market Lab Created Coronavirus, but somehow the articles have been deleted. Maybe it was the cleaning lady or cleaning man, but the mystery is, well, mysterious.

The posts of Fudan University ["Go Batmen!"] and the China University of Geosciences, (Wuhan) were somehow deleted from online caches. Could it be that China is trying to control the narrative about the pandemic? Maybe blame the United States for spreading the China coronavirus? It's a thought.

The Wuhan university appeared to have published, then deleted several posts regarding academic research that China’s ministry of science and technology needed to approve before publication. After all that hard work, why would they do such a thing? 

Smells fishy, or at least wet marketish.

Similar likely coverups turned up in the form of deleted posts originally published on April 9 by the school of information science and technology at Fudan University in Shanghai. But stifling free speech is nothing new at Communist China's universities.

“They are seeking to transform it from a massive disaster to one where the government did everything right and gave the rest of the world time to prepare,” Kevin Carrico, a senior research fellow of Chinese studies at Monash University, told The Guardian newspaper.

“There is a desire to a degree to deny realities that are staring at us in the face … that this is a massive pandemic that originated in a place that the Chinese government really should have cleaned up after SARS,” he added.

China’s science and technology ministry announced on April 3 that academic researchers were mandated to report their coronavirus findings to officials within three days or be terminated, which can have more than one meaning in China.

The news outlet noted that China’s President Xi Jinping published an essay in March that included “tracing the origin of the virus” a national priority; the science and technology ministry referenced the essay shortly before the universities changed tunes. 

Xi got a B+ on the essay.

The Chinese Communist government has been lying to the world about the virus and now they are covering up what they already published, and they have the help of the American news media who have become a propaganda mouthpiece for them.

It's time for the world to do business anywhere else but China.

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Treasury employee charged with leaking financial info on Trump team

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, 40, a woman with a lot of names and a lot of brass marbles was arrested and charged by federal authorities. The charge was for leaking financial information regarding former Trump officials. Edwards was caught with her proverbial pants down and toilet paper on her shoes, as she was holding a flash drive containing damning evidence--the stolen information--prosecutors said Wednesday.

The made-for-TV arrest came in the wake of other high-profile, leak-related prosecutions under the Trump administration, and they have pledged to go on the offensive against leakers. President Trump referred to such people as "traitors and cowards," but has not said whether he plans to have them executed as traitors if found guilty.

Imagine if he did.

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards [aka: Natalie Mayflower Nina Pinta Santa Maria Sours Edwards] is a [or was a] senior official at the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Imagine being a top dog in a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and get caught committing a crime involving the finances of others. You cannot make this stuff up.

She is accused of illegally handing over to a reporter bank reports documenting several suspicious financial transactions, known as Suspicious Activity Reports [aka: SARs, not to be confused with the severe acute respiratory syndrome also known as SARS with a big "S"], from October 2017 to the present.

The financial transactions she pilfered and provided to a reporter [who remains anonymous] involved Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, campaign official Richard Gates, accused Russian agent Maria Butina, and the guys and gals in the Russian Embassy.

Edwards saved the SARs, "along with thousands of other files containing sensitive government information," to a government-provided flash drive, prosecutors said. She allegedly transmitted the SARs to the reporter by "taking photographs of them and texting the photographs" using an encrypted app.

Very James Bond. Very Mitch Rapp. Very Brian Alexander [the hero of my next novel to be released sometime before Hell freezes over].

Although the journalist's name wasn't disclosed in court papers, the documents list over ten stories published by BuzzFeed News over the past 18 months, but a spokesman for the outlet declined to comment.

This case is likely the first criminal prosecution arising from leaks about targeted individuals by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe in the Russia investigation. Gates pleaded guilty and Manafort was found guilty of various bank and tax crimes, having nothing to do with President Trump.

In a Wednesday hearing, federal magistrate judge Theresa Buchanan released Edwards and all of her names on their own recognizance, subject to the custody of her parents. She, along with her mom and dad, also signed a $100,000 bond as part of her release. Edwards faces two charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in the slammer and a $250,000 fine.

Edwards is currently on administrative leave at Treasury, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak said.

"In her position, Edwards was entrusted with sensitive government information. As we allege here today, Edwards violated that trust when she made several unauthorized disclosures to the media," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement. "Today's action demonstrates that those who fail to protect the integrity of government information will be rightfully held accountable for their behavior."

Geoffrey Berman, U.S. attorney in Manhattan, where the criminal complaint was filed, said that Edwards "betrayed her position of trust by repeatedly disclosing highly sensitive information." She is alleged to have taken photos of the confidential documents and sent them to a reporter using an encrypted messaging app, according to court papers. This clearly shows she was aware of the illegality of her actions.

In addition, she also sent the same reporter internal Treasury Department emails, investigative memos and intelligence assessments, according to prosecutors.

According to court papers, federal investigators obtained a court order to monitor the calls to and from the associate director's personal cellphone, and that monitoring captured the frequency of contacts with the reporter via the encrypted messaging application.

If convicted, Edwards may continue working for Treasury from her prison cell along with several unnamed colleagues in cellblock B.

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