A team of doctors from the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi will be part of an international research project involving experts from the US and some European countries aimed at studying the effects of Covid-19 on the nervous system and brain of survivors, doctors from Jharkhand’s premiere healthcare facility said on Sunday.

Research will be conducted under the guidance of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and American research agency National Institute of Health (NIH). RIMS Director and Padmashree awardee Dr Kameshwar Prasad, a globally renowned neurologist, who is already a member of the WHO’s expert team for neurology, will head the team of doctors from Ranchi for the project, RIMS sources said.

The team of doctors from RIMS participating in the research includes the coordinator of RIMS’ Covid-19 task force, Dr. Prabhat Kumar. Besides, Dr. Surendra Kumar and Dr. Ganesh Chauhan, who have been treating patients at RIMS since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Jharkhand, will also be a part of the team.

Dr. Prasad was unavailable for comment on Sunday. However, Dr. Prabhat Kumar, who will be assisting the former in the research, said that the research will cover people from various countries and how the virus affected them.

“Many Covid survivors have complained of neurological disorders after recovering from the viral infection. The research will be aimed at studying how the virus affects the nervous system and brain of survivors gradually after recovery and what are the major symptoms,” said Dr. Kumar.

As of now, RIMS is the only Indian healthcare facility selected to participate in this research project, a source from the institution said. Several such scientific researches were being conducted across the world to study the long-term impact of SARS-CoV-2 on people belonging to different ethnicity and geographical locations, he added.

According to the official website of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a part of the US’ NIH, “In some people, response to the coronavirus has been shown to increase the risk of stroke, dementia, muscle and nerve damage, encephalitis, and vascular disorders. Some researchers think the unbalanced immune system caused by reacting to the coronavirus may lead to autoimmune diseases, but it's too early to tell.”

The effect of Covid-19 on the neurological system of members of the tribal community in Jharkhand could also be a part of the research, a doctor from RIMS said. Doctors from the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy are also likely to participate in this research.

RIMS will also use the data of patients admitted in the hospital due to post-Covid complications during the research, sources said.

As per government data, over 3.47 lakh people have been infected by coronavirus in Jharkhand so far and 5128 of them could not survive. RIMS also functioned as a centre of excellence for treating mucormycosis, a Covid-induced fungal infection.