Neda Banaei - Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University of North Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Mahnaz Saremi - Reference health laboratory, Ministry of health and medical education
Mona Akbari-Ahmadabadi - Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Even if the symptoms during the acute phase are minimal, COVID-۱۹ not only results in severe respiratory problems but also long-term consequences. Significant long-term consequences are now being identified as neurological and neuropsychiatric problems. The onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms brought on by a lengthy COVID might be challenging to detect and treat in patients with behavioral problems, such as those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this article, we describe three instances of ASD that showed a substantial worsening of neuropsychiatric symptoms after exposure to COVID-۱۹ and subsequent difficulties controlling the post-COVID neuropsychiatric symptoms. The therapy intended to target COVID-۱۹-induced immune reaction was delayed because Case ۱ caught SARS-CoV-۲ in the early phases of the epidemic. Case ۲ had a verified COVID-۱۹ exposure but showed no symptoms during the acute phase, however, she later had severe neuropsychiatric symptoms. Case ۳ had a challenging course, in part because of underlying immunological dysregulation and the past use of many immunomodulating drugs. Significant variations in peripheral blood monocytes' generation of inflammatory and counter-regulatory cytokines were seen in cases ۱ and ۳, for which serial blood samples were taken. The instances discussed here show how COVID-۱۹ has a significant impact on neuropsychiatric symptoms in ASD patients as well as how challenging it is to treat long-term COVID side effects.

COVID-۱۹, SARS-CoV-۲, Autism spectrum disorders, Monocyte Cytokine