Covid-19 Nasal Swab Test Caused Brain Fluid Leak in US Patient

This went unnoticed until old scans were reviewed by her new doctors, who carried out surgery to repair the defect in July. She has since fully recovered from the Covid-19 nasal swab test.

Walsh said he believes the symptoms the US patient developed were a result of irritation to the lining of the brain.

If the problem hadn't been treated, she could have developed a potentially life-threatening brain infection from bacteria that traveled up the nose.

Or, air could have entered the skull and placed excess pressure on the brain.

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Most testing protocols call for clinicians to follow the path of the floor of the nose, which lies above the roof of the mouth, rather than pointing the swab up — or if they point it up, to do so with great care.

Walsh said that though this was likely a very rare occurrence, it was a reminder of the need for high-quality training, given that hundreds of millions of more tests will be performed before the pandemic is over. 

(Writer: Issam Ahmed)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3zN7