The coronavirus patients betrayed by their own immune systems

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NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - The 42-year-old man arrived at a hospital in Paris on March 17 with a fever, cough and the 'ground glass opacities' in both lungs that are a trademark of infection with the new coronavirus.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

NEW YORK - The 42-year-old man arrived at a hospital in Paris on March 17 with a fever, cough and the"ground glass opacities" in both lungs that are a trademark of infection with the new coronavirus.

"For most people and most infections, that's what happens," said Dr Randy Cron, an expert on cytokine storms at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In the case of the 42-year-old patient, the suspected cytokine storm led his doctors to eventually try tocilizumab, a drug they have sometimes used to soothe an immune system in distress.

Tocilizumab is approved to quiet the chatter of immune molecules in rheumatoid arthritis and in some types of cancer. It mutes the activity of a specific cytokine called interleukin-6 that is associated with an overexuberant immune response. A patient battling a cytokine storm may have an abnormally fast heart rate, fever and a drop in blood pressure. Apart from a surge in interleukin-6, the body may also show high swirling levels of molecules called interleukin-1, interferon-gamma, C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

The reality is trickier, especially given the lack of reliable data for Covid-19. But noting that drugs like tocilizumab are taken regularly by people with arthritis, Cron said the benefit would probably outweigh potential harm if someone is facing death.

 

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