Comment by belltaco | Hacker News Reader

Comment by belltaco | Hacker News Reader

> Because other viral infections can cause brain inflammation, the researchers studied brain changes in mice after mild respiratory infection with H1N1 influenza, the viral strain that caused the 2009 “swine flu” and 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemics. The goal was to compare cognition-linked molecular changes after H1N1 to those seen after COVID-19. One week after infection, the H1N1 flu and SARS-CoV-2 infections caused similar patterns of cytokine elevation in the central nervous system, microglial reactivity and loss of oligodendrocytes in white matter. But seven weeks after infection, although the cytokine profiles had some overlap, including increased inflammatory chemokine CCL11, they differed. Effects on the hippocampus were similar in the two types of infections, but microglial reactivity and oligodendrocyte loss in white matter were not present after seven weeks following H1N1 infection.

So it's not just a flu.

It would be more interesting to compare SARS-CoV-2 with endemic common cold coronaviruses. In particular HCoV-OC43 appears to be quite similar in terms of genetics and typical symptoms.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.13889

When I was trying to dig through the chaff eventually I found the magic phrase viral tropism.

It's complicated. You have the ability of the virus to infect particular tissues. Sometimes viruses have a primary and secondary attack. What the viruses life cycle is in the host. Chicken pox's isn't influenza's. There is the ability of the virus to evade and suppress the immune response. And finally you have the point that viruses can trigger autoimmune responses.

I saw lots of back and forth about neurological stuff. Best response was from someone that studies neurology that pointed out that 'the brain' is made up of dozens of cell types. Viral damage or an autoimmune attack on any of those can be very ungood.

Also I think about 50-60 years ago the medical profession lost interest in respiratory viruses. So much information is absent, out dated, or the result of 50 years of telephone.

> Also I think about 50-60 years ago the medical profession lost interest in respiratory viruses. So much information is absent, out dated, or the result of 50 years of telephone.

Wait what? Really?

You do a literature search which I did years before the pandemic and there is almost nothing.

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