A storm of immunological responses that the body unleashed to combat the virus was responsible for much of the damage in severe instances of Covid-19, which resulted in individuals on ventilation systems with destroyed lungs, physicians noted early on in the epidemic.
It wasn’t clear why the SARS-CoV-2 virus appeared to be particularly adept at triggering these so-called cytokine outbursts, but scientists were aware of the dangers. A recent research released in Nature sheds light on why Covid-19 patients’ immune systems respond. According to the findings, the SARS-CoV-2 virus may infiltrate monocytes & macrophages, two types of defense cells.
White blood cells such as monocytes and macrophages serve as the first line of defense in the body’s immunological response. Pathogens are found and eliminated by these cells, which travel through the bloodstream and tissues. To prevent viruses from infecting neighboring cells, they devour, or rather encircle and swallow, the hazards they encounter. However, this is not the case with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The virus emerges from the endosome and enters the cell’s interior, where it begins replicating.
Inflammasomes are a class of agents that, when activated, essentially set fire to everything in their path. When infected cells are pyroptosis or “fierce death,” they aid them to die. Inflammation proteins are released by dying cells during pyroptosis, resulting in fever and an influx of more immune cells. There is nothing that can be done to prevent it from triggering a chain reaction of crisis signals. Once it’s begun, there’s no way to stop it. Basically, it’s a small blaze. Nothing an extinguisher can do can stop it from spreading and exploding.
Covid-19 has a greater risk of severe results in persons over the age of 65, as well as those with preexisting health conditions like as obesity or diabetes.
