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Ivan Agerton of Bainbridge Island, Wash., was usually unflappable. A 50-year-old adventure photographer and former marine, he has always been known to be calm in a crisis.
After returning home from a photography trip on the Red Sea, he tested positive for the coronavirus. Initially, his symptoms were not serious: mild respiratory problems and a loss of his sense of smell. But he soon began experiencing psychosis. He spent last Christmas in a psychiatric ward.
Ivan’s story is uncommon, but it is not unique. Dozens of psychosis cases linked to Covid-19 have been reported around the world, and there have been even more reports of neurological symptoms including brain fog, loss of smell, tremors and nerve issues.
Today, we hear from Ivan and look at the potential long-term neurological effects of the Covid-19.
On today’s episode
Pam Belluck, a health and science reporter for The New York Times.
Background reading
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A small number of coronavirus patients have reported severe psychotic symptoms. Most had no history of mental illness.
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Some people experiencing long-term Covid-19 symptoms are feeling better after getting the vaccine, but it is too soon to tell whether the shots have a broad beneficial effect on patients with continuing issues.
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Transcripts of each episode are available by the next workday. You can find them at the top of the page.
Pam Belluck contributed reporting.
The Daily is made by Theo Balcomb, Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Annie Brown, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, M.J. Davis Lin, Austin Mitchell, Neena Pathak, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guillemette, Hans Buetow, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, Bianca Giaever, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Alix Spiegel, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano and Soraya Shockley.
Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Mikayla Bouchard, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Nora Keller, Sofia Milan, Desiree Ibekwe, Laura Kim, Erica Futterman and Shreeya Sinha.
