“Neurologic damage following acute viral infections may be attributed to an excessive immune response to the infection, according to a new study.

Many viral infections that don’t directly infect the central nervous system (CNS) have been associated with severe neurologic disease. For these viruses, including newer viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and Zika, the mechanism behind the association is poorly understood. To gain a better picture of how viruses may cause neurologic disease, researchers used a mouse model of Zika virus infection and identified a population of T cells that may be responsible for the damage.“ The study found that  it isn’t the virus itself alone that causes the damage. Instead, it’s a very excessive immune response to the virus.

Balint, E., Feng, E., Giles, E.C. et al. Bystander activated CD8⁺ T cells mediate neuropathology during viral infection via antigen-independent cytotoxicity. Nat Commun 15, 896 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44667-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44667-0

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/immune-response-may-cause-virus-induced-neurologic-damage-2024a1000340