COVID-19 and Lyme Disease Share Similar Neurologic Symptoms
In the article “Neurologic Findings Among Inpatients with COVID-19 at a Safety-Net U.S. Hospital”, Anand and colleagues described the symptoms and clinical presentations of 74 individuals with confirmed COVID-19. [1]
The patients were evaluated by neurology consults while hospitalized or within one month of hospitalization.
COVID-19 and Lyme disease share many symptoms and clinical presentations.
The authors described nine symptoms in their COVID-19 patients that have also been reported in Lyme disease. These include:
- Altered mental status
- Myalgia
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Tremor
- Dizziness
- Gait instability
- Loss of consciousness
- Anosmia (loss of smell)
In addition, the authors described several clinical presentations in their COVID-19 patients that have also been reported in Lyme disease:
- Encephalopathy
- Seizure
- Ischemic stroke
- Primary movement disorder
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Traumatic brain injury
- Meningoencephalitis
“The majority of patients did not require critical care, suggesting that neurologic complications may be common in patients with moderate COVID-19 as well as those with severe disease,” wrote Anand and colleagues.
The breadth of neurologic findings associated with COVID-19 infection in this diverse group of hospitalized patients suggests the need for further research.
The study was not designed to determine the cause of the symptoms and physical findings.
“Neurologic findings spanned inflammatory and vascular pathologies, sequelae of critical illness and metabolic derangements, possible direct involvement of the nervous system by SARS-CoV-2, and exacerbation of underlying neurologic conditions,” the authors wrote.
Clinical Insight
Many of the neurologic symptoms reported in COVID-19—including fatigue, dizziness, headache, and neuropathy—are also commonly seen in Lyme disease. Because these conditions share overlapping clinical presentations, physicians should consider both diagnoses when evaluating patients with unexplained neurologic symptoms to avoid delayed treatment.
For a comprehensive overview of the Long COVID and Lyme disease connection—including my peer-reviewed research on 889 patients—see Long COVID and Lyme Disease: What Patients Need to Know.
