@the_news_21
Researchers at the Trinity College Dublin showed that a comprehensive review into what we know about COVID-19 and the way it functions suggests the virus has a unique infectious profile, which explains why it can be so hard to treat and why some people experience so-called ‘long-COVID’, struggling with significant health issues months after infection.
There is growing evidence that the virus infects both the upper and lower respiratory tracts – unlike ‘low pathogenic’ human coronavirus sub-species, which typically settle in the upper respiratory tract and cause cold-like symptoms, or ‘high pathogenic’ viruses such as those that cause SARS and ARDS, which typically settle in the lower respiratory tract.
Additionally, more frequent multi-organ impacts, and blood clots, and an unusual immune-inflammatory response not commonly associated with other, similar viruses, mean that COVID-19 has evolved a uniquely challenging set of characteristics.
While animal and experimental models imply an overly aggressive immune-inflammation response is a key driver, it seems things work differently in humans: although inflammation is a factor it is a unique dysregulation of the immune response that causes our bodies to mismanage the way they fight the virus.
This may explain why some people experience ‘long-COVID’ and suffer severe lung damage after infection.
