An-Najah News - A woman believed to be the first person to suffer from a rare type of brain swelling following a diagnosis of COVID-19 which might be a respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2.

according to the US National Library of Medicine the 58-year-old developed a case of acute necrotizing encephalitis, or ANE, a rare complication of influenza and other viral infections typically seen in children.

 The woman's nasopharyngeal swab tested positive for the novel coronavirus responsible for the global pandemic. after three days of coughing, fever, and an “altered mental state,” Doctors ordered CT and MRI scans, which revealed abnormal damage in the thalami and temporal lobes, areas of the brain associated with cognitive and memory function. People with some types of ANE will go on to develop damage, or lesions, in certain parts of the brain that can eventually lead to swelling, bleeding, and tissue death.

According to the National Institutes of Health Those who do survive, about half have permanent brain damage due to tissue necrosis, resulting in impairments in walking, speech, and other basic functions  these skills may be regained, but the loss of brain tissue is permanent and other individuals who survive their illness appear to recover completely.”
According to a study published in the Lancet Some individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 may develop cytokine storm syndrome, an overreaction of the immune system that can result in a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. Though neurological complications associated with COVID-19 are unclear.