Neurological Manifestations in Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients at a Tertiary Health Center in India: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of novel corona virus Wuhan, China in December 2019 with rapid spread in various corner of world, has prominently respiratory system involvement with varied manifestation of other systems as well. The objective of the study was to study the neurological manifestation in the patients with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Method: Demographic and clinical data of 109 SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay confirmed adult patients was collected prospectively. Patients who were unable to cooperate and/or required mechanical ventilation were excluded. Questionnaire based assessment pertaining to most prevalent symptoms and neurological symptoms were done. The prevalence of neurological manifestation in SARS-Cov 2 infected patients and their correlation with severity of disease was assessed. Results: We enrolled 109 patients between 1st April 2020 to 20th April 2020. Patients who were intubated were excluded. The mean age of patients was 38.2 (13.4) years and majority were males (86.2%). More than half of the patients (58.7%) were symptomatic and 24.8% of the patients had at least one neurological symptom. Cough was the commonest symptom (46.8%) followed by fever (31.2%). Amongst the neurological symptoms, the commonest was headache (15.6%), and anosmia (9.2%). In addition, patients had increased thirst (9.2%), myalgia (8.3%), weakness (8.3%), decreased taste (8.3%), and decreased sleep (5.5%). Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 may have neurological manifestations in addition to respiratory tract symptoms. Commonest symptoms like headache, anosmia, and increased thirst may be enquired in doubtful cases with high index of suspicion. Funding Statement: None. Declaration of Interests: None. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the institute ethics committee. The study was performed in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.