A study on the autopsies of COVID-19 victims has revealed that the virus spreads through the whole body and affects other organs.
While COVID-19 is a respiratory infection, it also affects organs throughout the body, the study published in Nature shows.
Dozens of recent autopsies show persistent evidence of SARS-CoV-2 throughout the body, including in the lungs, the heart, the spleen, the kidneys, the liver, the colon, the thorax, muscles, nerves, the reproductive tract, the eye, and the brain.
Remnants of the virus were found in one patient’s brain 230 days after the patient first showed symptoms.
“Our data indicate that in some patients SARS-CoV-2 can cause systemic infection and persist in the body for months,” conclude the authors of the study, led by researchers at the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tested samples from 44 autopsies that were performed from April 2020 to March 2021 – all in patients who died with COVID-19.
The researchers also found viral RNA in 84 distinct body locations and bodily fluids.
The researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA and protein in the hypothalamus and cerebellum within the brain of one patient and in the spinal cord and basal ganglia of two other patients.
“Our results show that although the highest burden of SARS-CoV-2 is in respiratory tissues, the virus can disseminate throughout the entire body,” the researchers conclude.
The researchers write, “Our data indicate that in some patients SARS-CoV-2 can cause systemic infection and persist in the body for months.”
In the past, autopsies on those who have contracted COVID-19 have shown preliminary signs of multi-organ spread, with genetic remnants of the virus showing up in a myriad of tissues, organs, and fluids.
In July of 2020, further autopsies showed evidence of blood clots in nearly every vital organ of those who had contracted COVID-19.
