Scientists are One Step Nearer in Understanding the Worst Covid-19 Cases

Scientists are just now beginning to understand the most complex biological mysteries of the coronavirus pandemic: Why is it some people get severely sick, whereas others quickly recover?

According to recent studies, in some patients, the virus appears to make the immune system go haywire- out of control.

Unable to marshal the right cells and molecules to fight off the invading virus, the bodies of the infected instead launch an entire arsenal of weapons — a misguided barrage that can wreak havoc on healthy tissues, “similar to a missile storage facility being hit”, experts said.

“We are seeing some crazy things coming up at various stages of infection,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University who led one of the new studies.

“A lot of these data are telling us that we need to be acting pretty early in this process,” said John Wherry, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who recently published a study of these telltale immune signatures. As more findings come out, researchers may be able to begin testing the idea that “we can change the trajectory of the disease,” he said.