PETALING JAYA: Covid-19 may cause sudden stroke attacks in young adults between the age of 30s to 40s who are not even chronically ill, doctors said on Wednesday.
An article by CNN reported that there is increase in evidence for Covid-19 infections to cause unusual blood clot in patients which leads to stroke.
Dr. Thomas Oxley, a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, and colleagues who have spoken to CNN said they have treated five patients below the age of 50 who all had mild symptoms of Covid-19 or were asymptomatic.
Oxley said that the virus seems to be causing increased clotting in large arteries which leads to severe stroke.
“During the past two weeks, our report shows a seven-fold increase in occurence of sudden stroke in young patients. Most of these patients have no past medical history and were at home with either mild or no symptoms of the virus,“ he added.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the sudden surge strokes among the young and middle-aged in many other hospitals in communities hit hard by the coronavirus has challenged understanding of the virus and the disease it causes.
Many doctors expressed worry that as the New York City Fire Department was picking up four times more than normal, the people who died at home during the peak of infection and some of the dead had suffered sudden strokes, said the report in the Washington Post.
Oxley and his team urged people to always look out for symptoms of Covid-19 and to immediately call 911 if experience sudden loss of mobility.
He wrote that up until now, people are advised to only call for an ambulance if they have high fever or experience shortness of breath.
