Due to Covid-19 we could see a wave of Parkinson's

According to some experts there is the possibility that the coronavirus infection triggers Parkinson's disease, as happened a century ago with the Spanish flu

(image: Getty Images) The third wave of Covid -19 could come in another, longer and quieter form, that of Parkinson's disease. To launch the alarm from the pages of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease are some Australian researchers from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, who fear that the neurological symptoms induced by Sars-Cov-2 infection may be only the first stages of a process inflammation of the brain with far more serious consequences.

Kevin Barnham and his colleagues fear that history may repeat itself. A century ago, in fact, just five years after the Spanish flu pandemic, the incidence of Parkinson's disease increased up to three times.

Could it happen again today, with Covid-19? It is a possibility - they say - that at the moment cannot be excluded and for which, indeed, we must prepare. Otherwise, should the fear prove to be well founded, the social, health and economic impact would be difficult to overcome.

Today it is thought that Parkinson's disease can have triggers, for example a viral infection that reaches the brain and triggers a cascade inflammatory process, which does not stop with the end of the infection.

The data collected so far on neurological symptoms related to Sars-Cov-2 infection (from encephalitis to slightest loss of smell and taste), argue the authors of the article, suggest that the premises are all there and that the risk is real.

We do not really know what the long-term consequences may be for those who have become ill with Covid-19, for this reason experts suggest long-term monitoring of patients who have experienced neurological symptoms. And, if at some point suspicious signs appear, to investigate, so as to identify Parkinson's disease early and set up appropriate therapies.

Warning: researchers are certainly not saying that anyone who has contracted coronavirus disease will develop Parkinson's, and even hazarding estimates, at the moment, would be premature and not very useful. What needs to be done is to understand more about Covid-19, about how to eradicate the virus from the body, but also what challenges the survivors will have to face.

Meanwhile, at the Florey Institute, experts are developing a tool for screening, an olfactory test to undergo after the age of 50 to check the functionality of different areas of the brain and identify the first signs of Parkinson's.