Covid tongue

[Skanky Vamp]

Doctors in Houston are trying to figure out why a handful of people hospitalized with COVID-19 develop massively enlarged tongues. The condition is called macroglossia. It makes it impossible for patients to eat and talk. Dr. James Melville with the UTHealth School of Dentistry has become a specialist in dealing with the condition. He has performed surgeries to help patients regain use of their tongues.

When KHOU 11 first reported on the condition last fall, Dr. Melville said there were only two documented cases in the United States. Since then, he has heard about seven more patients. Out of the nine cases, all had been intubated in a hospital. Eight out of the nine are Black. Two had suffered strokes and the other seven were hospitalized with COVID-19 prior to developing macroglossia.

Melville says the patients who had survived COVID-19 had inflammatory cells in their tongue tissue, which means there’s something about the virus that is making certain people more prone to the rare condition. “I think it has a lot to do with where the virus is attaching itself and the body’s immune response to it,” said Dr. Melville.
He is now doing a study to figure out if there’s a common link in those patients’ genes. If doctors can answer that question, they hope they can also figure out how to prevent it.

 

[TriBel]

there’s something about the virus that is making certain people more prone to the rare condition.

That's a bit of a "No shit Sherlock" remark. That said, perhaps not because there's this from India (which they seem to link partly to treatment, partly to underlying conditions):

States across India have begun declaring a “black fungus” epidemic as cases of the fatal rare infection shoot up in patients recovering from Covid-19.

The fungal disease, called mucormycosis, has a 50% mortality rate. It affects patients initially in the nose but the fungus can then spread into the brain, and can often only be treated by major surgery removing the eye or part of skull and jaw.

‘Black fungus’ disease linked to Covid spreads across India

7,200 mucormycosis cases reported, usually in patients with diabetes or compromised immune systems

www.theguardian.com

 

[DeadlyDuo]

"All had been intubated in a hospital" is the one common denominator here. A swollen tongue sounds like some sort of allergic reaction.

How long ago were the first two cases? It says there were only two documented cases before it was reported on and since then there had been seven more, if the first two cases were a considerable amount of time ago, then they might not be relevant to the other 7. The facts we have are:

9 out of 9 were intubated in a hospital.
8 out of 9 were black.
2 out of 9 had suffered strokes.
7 out of 9 were hospitalised with Covid.

If the non-black case was a stroke rather than covid related then perhaps that one could be disregarded, that could very well be an allergic reaction to something, perhaps something in the plastic of the the intubator since the mouth is where the reaction seems to be happening.

Black people are more at risk of sickle cell anaemia than other races so the fact that 88.8 % of these cases are black suggests that there could be a genetic disposition in black people towards having a bad reaction to covid. I also think it was mentioned somewhere last year that POC were more affected by covid than white people.

I think they need to have a look at the intubators and rule out that there isn't something there causing the problem since that is the only common factor between all the patients. Also check whether it was the same hospital and whether it was the same person doing the intubating or if staff travel between different hospitals (eg some med students moonlight at other hospitals).

 

[TriBel]

Black people are more at risk of sickle cell anaemia than other races so the fact that 88.8 % of these cases are black suggests that there could be a genetic disposition in black people towards having a bad reaction to covid. I also think it was mentioned somewhere last year that POC were more affected by covid than white people.

NHS England acknowledged it. "We know there is evidence of disproportionate mortality and morbidity amongst black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people, including our NHS staff, who have contracted COVID-19". Socio-economic status and cultural practice plus (I think) a propensity for diabetes partly accounts for the discrepancy but there might still be a question mark hanging over it.