Director of Rafic Hariri University Hospital, Firas Abyad, explained that recently published research indicates that Covid-19 can affect the brain, which may lead to severe neurological complications on the long term.

In a series of tweets, he indicated that “Recently, most of Covid’s outbreaks in other countries occurred among younger  unvaccinated adults and were caused by new strains. Why is this important?”

He said: “In Lebanon, most middle-aged and young adults have not been vaccinated yet, which makes them vulnerable to any new wave of Covid.  Although younger patients are less likely to die from infection, they may develop the long-term side effects of the disease, which can leave the patient permanently disabled,” he added, “ consequences may not be at the individual level only, social and economic impact of long-term neurological side effects can be significant as well, as the productive infected becomes chronically ill, dependent on his family and community. The economic loss becomes greater, the younger the victim is.”

Abyad asked, “How common is this? Research indicates that it is more common than expected. More important is the fact of not being limited to patients who have developed severe infections only, even young individuals with a mild infection can experience long-term side effects. This explains the importance of vaccinating  youngs.”