I doubt the virus is still around 2-3 months later in their bodies. These effects are likely due to the hyperinflammation triggered later on during the course of the disease, if I am to follow the mechanism described in the well-detailed paper in Cell from a few weeks ago.
The virus is still a coronavirus (neural invasion, also noted for SARS-CoV-2, is also a feature of regular coronaviruses). These effects, although possibly severe and worthy of concern, are second-order effects.
That's always something i wonder every time i read about covid-19 : are we sure that those effects aren't also observed with other coronaviruses, maybe on a different intensity, but we just never had so much scrutiny for thoses virus as we have on this one in particular ?
Diarrheas etc are common symptoms of many viral infections, and people die from side effects of the flu or the cold every year ( old people most of the time).
I can say for sure on neural invasion because I found a paper describing the phenomenon from 2018, which described (IIRC, on hospitalized patients) neural invasions by "human coronavirus".
Took a while to dig through my post history, but here's the paper I mentioned:
It's somewhat similar to the mutant behavior of FCoV, which can cause feline infectious peritonitis. Regular FCoV causes some gastrointestinal and respiratory issues, but upon mutation starts breaking down cells and causing issues in the circulatory system, ultimately causing death.
I agree, I do not think the heart inflammation suggests active virus. But my point was to show the commentor I replied to that the effects in Europe are not limited to respiratory effects.
They were under the impression only Americans had widespread non-respiratory symptoms of coronavirus.
The virus is still a coronavirus (neural invasion, also noted for SARS-CoV-2, is also a feature of regular coronaviruses). These effects, although possibly severe and worthy of concern, are second-order effects.