Reasons for severe disease under study. A new study has suggested that the responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the nose and throat might help determine who will develop severe disease and who will get through with mild disease or not develop the illness. SARS-CoV-2, like other respiratory coronaviruses, enters through the mouth or nose and initially replicates within the epithelial cells of the human nasopharynx region, generating an upper respiratory infection over several days, the authors explain. Despite equivalent viral loads, in people with mild or moderate COVID-19, the epithelial cells express anti-viral/interferon-responsive genes, whereas the cells in patients with severe COVID-19 have muted anti-viral responses, the authors wrote. If research on ways to boost immune response in these initial entry points for the virus is successful, it might well turn out to be the strongest weapon in the armamentarium against the COVID-19 disease.

Source: The Hindu July 24, 2021 17:03 UTC