New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2022, Lisbon, April 23-26) suggests that many of the symptoms connected to post-COVID syndrome (PCC, also known as long COVID) could be linked to the effect of the virus on the vagus nerve – one of the most important multi-functional nerves in the body. The study is by Dr. Gemma Lladós and Dr. Lourdes Mateu, University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain, and colleagues.
The vagus nerve extends from the brain down into the torso and into the heart, lungs, and intestines, as well as several muscles including those involved in swallowing. As such, this nerve is responsible for a wide variety of bodily functions including controlling heart rate, speech, the gag reflex, transferring food from the mouth to the stomach, moving food through the intestines, sweating, and many others.
Long COVID is a potentially disabling syndrome affecting an estimated 10-15% of subjects who survive acid reflux) was observed in 9 of 19 (47%) individuals; with 4 of these 9 (44%) again having difficulty delivering food to the stomach and 3 of these 9 (33%) with hiatal hernia – which occurs when the upper part of the stomach bulges through the diaphragm into the chest cavity.
A Voice Handicap Index 30 test (a standard way to measure voice function) was abnormal in 8/17 (47%) cases, with 7 of these 8 cases (88%) suffering dysphonia.
The authors say: “In this pilot evaluation, most long COVID subjects with vagus nerve dysfunction symptoms had a range of significant, clinically-relevant, structural and/or functional alterations in their vagus nerve, including nerve thickening, trouble swallowing, and symptoms of impaired breathing. Our findings so far thus point at vagus nerve dysfunction as a central pathophysiological feature of long COVID.”
Meeting: The European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2022)
