From the article: Viral infections are classified as "respiratory", "gastrointestinal", or otherwise based on their predominant symptoms, not on their specificity by organ system. Measles is...
From the article:
Documenting such peculiar symptoms is important, Mannan tells The Scientist, because the loss of smell and taste could be an early warning sign of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Based on the literature, British ear, nose, and throat doctors have now called for adults who lost those senses to quarantine themselves in an attempt to tamp down the spread of the disease, The New York Times reports. The symptoms, Mannan adds, also suggest that the virus has the ability to invade the central nervous system, which could cause neurological damage and possibly play a role in patients dying from COVID-19.
Viral infections are classified as "respiratory", "gastrointestinal", or otherwise based on their predominant symptoms, not on their specificity by organ system. Measles is well-known to infect nervous tissue, even though it's characterised as a respiratory virus with skin manifestations. As the article notes, any tissues with ACE2-receptors may sustain viral infection - heart, kidneys, etc.
As to COVID-19 (with apologies to anyone hypochondria-prone) noting and acting on any early warning signs may help control spread. It's also likely, based on these reports, that some fraction of cases may have lasting neurological symptoms.
From the article:
Viral infections are classified as "respiratory", "gastrointestinal", or otherwise based on their predominant symptoms, not on their specificity by organ system. Measles is well-known to infect nervous tissue, even though it's characterised as a respiratory virus with skin manifestations. As the article notes, any tissues with ACE2-receptors may sustain viral infection - heart, kidneys, etc.
As to COVID-19 (with apologies to anyone hypochondria-prone) noting and acting on any early warning signs may help control spread. It's also likely, based on these reports, that some fraction of cases may have lasting neurological symptoms.