Alyssa Milano: COVID Is Making My Hair Fall Out

She says she is suffering symptoms months after becoming ill
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 11, 2020 5:01 PM CDT
Alyssa Milano Says COVID Caused Hair Loss
Alyssa Milano attends the premiere of "Bombshell" at Regency Village Theatre on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Alyssa Milano says she is losing large amounts of hair as a result of COVID-19. The actress, who recently tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, months after other tests apparently missed the infection, says she is still dealing with symptoms four months after falling seriously ill, CNN reports. In a video posted on Instagram, the 47-year-old brushes her wet hair with a detangler brush and displays large chunks of hair tha came out. "I just wanted to show you the amount of hair that is coming out of my head as a result of COVID," she says. "One brushing, this is my hair loss from COVID-19. Wear a damn mask."

Milano counts herself among the "long hauler" group of patients who still experience symptoms months after infected. With such patients, "what we’re seeing is that this is a byproduct of the inflammation from the virus itself," New York City emergency physician Dr. Robert Glatter tells Today. "In other words, dead fragments of virus elicit an immune response. And as a result of this, the body reacts and produces certain types of substances that can really have adverse effects." When Milano disclosed last week that she had tested positive for antibodies, she urged her followers to take the pandemic seriously. "This illness is not a hoax," she said. "I thought I was dying. It felt like I was dying." (More Alyssa Milano stories.)

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