The flu carries greater risks of neurological diseases than Covid-19, according to a new study.
- Patients hospitalized with the flu are more likely to need medical care for neurological conditions within a year than Covid-19 patients.
- The researchers found that 2.8% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed a neurological condition, compared to 4.9% of those who had the flu.
- For the team, the study shows that Covid-19 does not have a more serious brain impact than other respiratory viruses, when it comes to common neurological conditions.
The appearance of numerous cases of brain fog in patients with Covid-19 has highlighted the neurological impact of the disease. However, a US study shows that people infected with influenza are more likely to need medical care for neurological disorders than those affected by SARS-CoV-2 or its variants.
The results were published online in the journal Neurology on March 20, 2024.
Flu: more neurological disorder than with Covid-19
For this study, researchers took the medical records of 77,272 people treated for Covid-19 and exactly the same number of patients hospitalized for the flu. They looked at how many of these patients received medical care in the following year for one of the six most common neurological disorders: migraine, epilepsy, stroke, neuropathy, motor disorders and dementia. They also recorded the number of people who did not have these pathologies at the start of the study to see how many of them developed the disorder after infection.
Analysis of the results shows that people infected with Covid-19 were less likely to need care in the following year for common neurological problems than those who had the flu. In detail, 2.0% of Covid patients received treatment for migraine, compared to 3.2% of those who had the flu. 1.6% of individuals infected with the coronavirus received treatment for epilepsy, compared to 2.1% for those affected by influenza viruses. For neuropathy the figures were 1.9% and 3.6%, motor disorders were 1.5% and 2.5%, strokes were 2.0% and 2.4% and dementia was 2.0% and 2.3%.
Scientists estimate that people infected with Covid-19 had a 35% lower risk of being treated for migraine than those who had the flu. The risk was 22% lower for epilepsy and 44% lower for neuropathy. They also had a 36% reduced risk of receiving care for motor disorders, a 10% lower risk of stroke and a 7% lower risk of dementia.
On average, the team notes that 2.8% of Covid patients had developed one of six neurological conditions, compared to 4.9% of those who had the flu.
Covid-19: no more neurological disorders than other respiratory diseases
“It is important to note that our study did not examine the consequences of long Covid, and our results do not necessarily contradict the results of other research showing an increase in neurological symptoms in people with long Covid”specifies the author of the study Dr. Brian C. Callaghan in a communicated. “While the results were not what we expected, they are reassuring as we found that being hospitalized for Covid-19 did not lead to more care for common neurological conditions compared to hospitalization for the flu.”
For researchers, it is a “good news” that SARS-CoV-2 behaves similarly to other respiratory viruses with respect to common neurological disorders.
“There were concerns that already limited access to neurological care would decline further if we had a dramatic increase in neurological care after Covid-19 infection”explains study co-author Dr. Adam de Havenon, associate professor of neurology at Yale University in New Haven.
