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Here's What Doctors Now Know About COVID-19's Impact on the Body

Carol Pearson

   WASHINGTON - Last March,whenthe World Health Organization declared
   COVID-19 a pandemic,it had already proved to be lethal and highly
   contagious. It was a new virus withmanyunknowns. Since then, scientists
   have learneda lot about how it affectsvital organs anditslong-term
   effects.

   COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a virus -- officially known
   as SARS-COV2, short forSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

   It'sthe second time a coronavirus has sickened people and caused
   death.SARSfirst appeared in China in November 2002. The current version
   of the virusemergedfromChina in 2019,which is why it is called
   COVID-19.
   A worker inspects vials of SARS CoV-2 Vaccine for COVID-19 produced by
   SinoVac at its factory in Beijing, Sept. 24, 2020.

   The virus invades the lungs. Once there, it multiplies and neutralizes
   the molecules that help us fight infection.

   Most people recover, but the virus can damage the lungs and leave
   patients gasping for air.

   Patient stories
   Thomas Steele needed a double lung transplant because of COVID-19.

   "It's nothing like sitting in your hospital room gasping for every
   breath and air you take, and I did that for58 days," Steele said.

   The lungs pass oxygen into the bloodstream, and the virus can damage
   the lungs and make the oxygen levels fall.

   Patients may need to be put on a ventilatortohelp them breathe.

   Blood clots
   COVID-19 can also cause dangerous clotting in the bloodstream. People
   who already have damaged blood vessels, from high blood pressure or
   stroke, and those with heart disease have a higher risk of serious
   disease.

   These clots can form throughout the body, including in the lungs and
   the heart. The clotting can cause heart attack or stroke.

   Dr. Allen Anderson at University of Texas Health Science Center in
   SanAntonio is one of many cardiologists who saw people with healthy
   hearts suffer heart damage.

   "They had elevations of blood enzyme markers that were consistent with
   a heart attack even though they didn't have any blockages in their
   coronary arteries, they had heart rhythm disturbances, and this
   occurred with quite highprovenance," Anderson said.

   The virus and the inflammation that accompanies it, can damage the
   heart tissue. Some of the damage can be reversed. But some cannot.
   This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute
   of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows
   SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19, isolated from a
   patient in the U.S.

   Kidney damage
   Doctors have also learned that the virus can damage another vital
   organ--the kidneys. A large New York medical system looked at more than
   5,000 COVID patients last year.

   Dr. Kenar Jhaveri at Hofstra/Northwell in Great Neck, New York is the
   lead author whose findings were published in the journal Kidney
   International.

   "Of the 5,449 patients, 36.6% of them developed acute renal failure or
   kidney injury. Of the ones that got kidney injury,
   14%requireddialysis,"Jhaveri said.

   Scientists are still studying the impact of COVID-19 on the body.
   Butthe most severeeffects start withthe lungs. Damaged lungs have a
   harder time getting oxygen to the bloodstream. And organs need oxygen