(Image source from: health.clevelandclinic.org)

When it comes to the impacts of Covid-19, it is likely that the first symptoms that everyone talks about is that of fever, cold and cough and the difficulty breathing. The organ that people worry about are the lungs because that is where the virus colonises. While that is true, the impacts of Covid-19 run deeper than that.

But, Covid-19 is a disease that is known for impacting different parts of the body. There have even been a number of reports citing that the disease impacts the immune system of the body and leaves permanent scarring on the lungs.

Doctors have noticed several changes in the body including cytokine storm and something known as Covid-19 toes, which is swelling on the toes of the patient.

The scientists and researchers are still trying to find an answer why some of the patients remain asymptomatic while several other show mild to severe symptoms.

President of the Public Health Foundation of India, K Srinath Reddy, in one of the interviews said that the primary reason why the pandemic was so unpredictable was because the virus infected multiple parts of the body which made the clinical manifestations a lot harder to track.

“Other viral epidemics have not had this speed of transmission, or this level of body involvement of multiple body parts,” Dr Reddy said.

What are some of the clinical impacts of Covid-19?

Even the survivors of Covid-19 have reported that it left their body feeling weak and broken. Several reports even suggest that the virus leaves behind permanent scarring on the lungs. It can even leave the immune system disrupted and even leave them with breathing problems.

Some of the impacts that Covid-19 leave behind on the body include:

Cytokine storm syndrome (CSS)

It is not news that people of every age is susceptible to Covid-19. It doesn’t differentiate between your age, demographics or race. But it is true that older people with comorbidities and people on immune-suppressants are clearly at a higher risk of developing the disease.

Earlier in April, a research conducted on the Covid-19 patients found that the condition induces a condition called “Cytokine storm” in some of the patients. This is a condition that results in the overproduction of the cytokines and immune cells in the body.

If you are wondering why this can be harmful, “Because its just immune cells, right?”

Well, too much of immune cells often tend to impact the body and make them attack the healthy cells in your body, causing further complications.

In normal conditions, the immune cells when triggered to fight an infection, reach the site and then kill the foreign bodies. But, in case of CSS, the excess immune cells directly attach the healthy cells in the body after being done with the antigens.

During the Spanish Flu which hit the world back in 1918-20 that killed over 50 million people globally, CSS was the main cause of the deaths. If the clinical features of this condition are not diagnosed on time, the same often ends up causing serious issues with multiple organ failure in the patients.

Covid toes

Another weird issue that impacts your body once infected with Covid-19 are the Covid toes. This symptom was first reported in Spain and then in U.S.

Patients have reported witnessing purple, blue or red marks on their toes and sometimes even on the fingers. The condition is described as “chilblain-like lesions”.

But, with such less evidence surrounding the situation, the scientists and researchers are still trying to figure out whether there is a direct relationship between this skin condition and the impacts of Covid-19. A study published in the British Journal of Dermatology even found skin conditions prevalent in over 300 patients.

Out of that, 19% of the lot had signs of Covid toe.

Multi-system inflammation in Children

If you read about the news a few weeks back, you’d likely know about the “Kawasaki disease” like symptoms that the children were being infected with during the outbreak of Covid-19.

While the doctors and researchers were shocked what the condition could be, this multi-system inflammation was seen to be quite prevalent in several of the children who later tested positive for the virus or the antibodies.

The UK’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society (PICS) reported a rise in these inflammatory issues in the children ever since the outbreak of the virus.

The condition causes the inflammation of the blood vessels in the children, which leads to lower blood pressure. It also ends up affecting the entire body as it resorts to the formation of excess fluids in the lungs and the organs much like Kawasaki disease.

Neurological disorders

While the neurological conditions are not that profound, it was reported in the JAMA neurology study that some of the disorders include dizziness, headache, impaired consciousness, seizures, loss of full body control movements and even anosmia and lack of taste.

Irregular bowel movements

Bowel abnormalities as a side effect of the Covid-19 disease might sound like a reach but it is true. In a report comprising of over 400 patients admitted to the same healthcare facility, it was reported that 31% of them reported issues with their bowel movements.

It is still unclear whether all of these abnormalities and impacts are because of Covid-19 or not but researchers are predicting that there are high chances of correlation between them all. As more evidence is extracted, it is likely that more and more findings will come to the forefront.

By Somapika Datta