Query Response

Responder: Michael (Covid-19 Expert)

When the immune system becomes alerted to an infection, one of the ways it combats the invading pathogens is through cytokines—small proteins that help coordinate the body’s inflammatory response. Inflammation is the body’s natural response against harm, where an army of white blood cells is dispatched to surround the area under attack. That’s what causes the tissue to swell up. But inflammation is a generalized response. When cytokines are released at excessive levels, they can activate too many white blood cells that threaten healthy cells and tissue in other parts of the body. The onset of this hyper-inflammation can be rapid and devastating. Even after the immune system has cleared out the disease, the body can continue to release cytokines, causing further damage to organs. Cytokine storms have been observed in other respiratory illnesses, like influenza. And more importantly, they’ve been observed in other coronavirus infections as well, like SARS and MERS. So it’s not much of a surprise to see covid-19 patients afflicted by cytokine storms as well. There are no published numbers in any studies that say how many covid-19 hospitalizations result in a cytokine storm, but one estimate reported in the New York Times suggests it might be as high as 15 percent. The best treatments so far are cytokine-inhibiting drugs. One study suggests early use blood thinners might be useful in tempering cytokine activation and preventing a storm from breaking out.