Scientists at the Center for Cardiovascular Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, argue that low (35.5 ° C and below) body temperature during initial treatment for COVID-19 can serve as a predictor of the course of the disease. According to them, 44% of this group of patients die. A temperature above 40 ° C at the time of the development of the disease also indicates a fatal development of the infection. The mortality rate in such groups is 42%.
Russian experts have differently characterized the possible causes of the low temperature at the initial visit to the doctor, and the correlation of this factor with the fatal development of COVID-19.
“One of the reasons is the correlation between low normal body temperature and old age,” Sergei Netesov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Virology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of NSU, explained to Izvestia. – It is common knowledge that even the normal body temperature in older people is slightly lower than that of younger people. Another possible reason is a too weak reaction of the immune system, including a very weak production of interleukin-1, which is one of the body’s ways of fighting infection. “
Sergei Netesov associates the increased temperature and the associated risk of death with the body’s overreaction to a viral infection with the threat of a cytokine storm.
Another reason may be the defeat of the center of chemical thermoregulation, which is located in the posterior hypothalamus, says Galina Reva, professor at the Department of Fundamental Medicine at the School of Biomedicine of the Far Eastern Federal University (the university is a participant in the project to improve the competitiveness of education “5-100”).
“This can be related to both low and high temperatures,” she said. – The center of chemical thermoregulation is located in the posterior hypothalamus. The anterior one controls heat transfer through the implementation of the respiratory and vasomotor center. Damage to the higher centers of regulation of the body is more important than local damage. Since hypothalamic neurons do not have a typical blood-brain barrier, they are very sensitive to ischemia and viral toxins. Lack of regeneration and neuronal death are associated with a poor prognosis. “
Scientists agree that body temperature can be used as an easily measurable predictor.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:
Heat Fad: Temperature 35.5 Predicts Death From COVID-19