Adults and children with pre-existing medical conditions are classified as at high risk of getting infected by COVID-19. However, not so much is discussed about spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.
Researchers of a new study said that spinal cord injury could complicate the body's response to the virus as SCI could cause immunosuppression, News 2 reported.
Impaired Immune Response of Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Linda Schultz, Ph.D., CRRN of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, said that most people would not think so much about SCI patients as at risk of COVID-19 because they could not walk. On the contrary, Schultz wrote that spinal cord injury causes immunosuppression among paralyzed patients.
A separate paper titled "Impaired Immune Responses Following Spinal Cord Injury Lead to Reduced Ability To Control Viral Infection," explains that spinal cord injuries disrupt the central autonomic pathways that regulate the immune system, increasing the risk of infection.
Their experiment on mice showed that susceptibility to infection is due to the suppression of both innate and adaptive immune responses.
Schultz said that typically, the immune response of the body would immediately spot the infection through the autonomic nervous system. It will detect the virus then send a message to the brain to activate the immune system. However, this does not happen in SCI patients.
Even though COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, the virus will continue to replicate and infect the body, especially the major organs, if the autonomic nervous system cannot respond quickly.
Therefore, if the message could not reach the brain as quickly as possible, the virus will have more time to multiply within the body. This is why paralyzed people and SCI patients are more susceptible to infections.
Furthermore, Schultz also identified secondary complications of SCI that weaken the patient's immune response. This includes diabetes, heart disease, respiratory or urinary tract infection, and open pressure injuries.
Touching Chair Rims, Tires, and Sitting Increases Risk of Infection for SCI Patients
According to a report by News 2, Schultz's research showed that people in wheelchairs are at more risk of having severe COVID-19 because many of them constantly touch the handrails and tires of their wheelchairs as they navigate through their environment and as they sit lower than most people.
Schultz pointed out that viruses are flying around the air, and many examples can be seen on the internet how airborne viruses are transmitted from one person to another. Add gravity to the mix, as viruses eventually come down, this group of people who sits lower than everybody else becomes more susceptible to infection.
Furthermore, Schultz explains that paralysis also affects the breathing ability of SCI patients that even coughing to break up secretions in the lungs will be challenging for them.
Added risks to people with SCI should be considered for them to have early access to vaccines and antibody transfusion therapy. These are important for them to fight off the deadly virus that causes COVID-19.
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