Covid-19 can raise the risk of certain brain and mental disorders, even two years after recovery, according to new research.
Academics at the University of Oxford and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), found that cases of psychosis, dementia, seizures and ‘brain fog’, were more prevalent in those who had coronavirus than other respiratory infections.
The study showed both the Delta and Omicron variants pose similar risks of developing such neurological and psychiatric disorders.
While the likelihood of most diagnoses in children after coronavirus was lower than in adults, children who had recovered from Covid-19 were more likely to be diagnosed with some conditions, including seizures and psychotic disorders.
In contrast, findings indicated no increased risks of depression and anxiety, as cases of these disorders were found to be short lived.
Professor Paul Harrison, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, who headed the study, said: "It is good news that the excess of depression and anxiety diagnoses after COVID-19 is short-lived, and that it is not observed in children.
"However, it is worrying that some other disorders, such as dementia and seizures, continue to be more likely diagnosed after Covid-19, even two years later.
"It also appears that omicron, although less severe in the acute illness, is followed by comparable rates of these diagnoses."
Published in The Lancet Psychiatry, the study analysed data across three pandemic waves, and investigated neurological and psychiatric diagnoses in over 1.25 million people diagnosed Covid-19.
Over a two-year period, the frequency of 14 neurological and psychiatric diagnoses were compared to a matched group of people recovering from other respiratory infections.
The study could not determine the severity, duration, or when these disorders began in those diagnosed.
Dr Max Taquet, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow, University of Oxford, who led the analyses, said: "The findings shed new light on the longer-term mental and brain health consequences for people following Covid-19 infection.
"The results have implications for patients and health services and highlight the need for more research to understand why this happens after Covid-19, and what can be done to prevent these disorders from occurring, or treat them when they do."
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