According to this the severity of COVID may be all down to your genes!
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022..._medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletterDetermining the whole genome sequence for all participants in the study allowed the team to create a precise map and identify
genetic variation linked to severity of COVID-19. The team found key differences in 16 genes in the ICU patients when compared with the DNA of the other groups.
They also confirmed the involvement of seven other genetic variations already associated with severe COVID-19 discovered in earlier studies from the same team.
The findings included how a single gene variant that disrupts a key messenger molecule in immune system signaling—called interferon alpha-10—was enough to increase a patient's risk of severe disease.This highlights the gene's key role in the immune system and suggests that treating patients with interferon—proteins released by immune cells to defend against viruses—may help manage disease in the early stages.
The study also found that variations in genes that control the levels of a central component of blood clotting—known as Factor 8— were associated with critical illness in COVID-19.This may explain some of the clotting abnormalities that are seen in severe cases of COVID-19. Factor 8 is the gene underlying the most common type of hemophilia.Professor Kenneth Baillie, the project's chief investigator and a Consultant in Critical Care Medicine at University of Edinburgh, said: "Our latest findings point to specific molecular targets in critical COVID-19. These results explain why some people develop life-threatening COVID-19, while others get no symptoms at all. But more importantly, this gives us a deep understanding of the process of disease and is a big step forward in finding more effective treatments.
