Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus may significantly accelerate dementia in patients already suffering from the neurodegenerative condition, according to a study conducted in West Bengal. The research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, found that all 14 participants with dementia experienced rapidly progressive dementia following infection with SARS-CoV-2.

The patients included four with Alzheimer’s disease, five with vascular dementia, three with Parkinson’s disease and two with the behavioural variant of front temporal dementia. Insights into the impact of Covid-19 on human cognition have so far remained unclear, with neurologists referring to it as “brain fog.”