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clock Created with Sketch. 20/04/20
13:33
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Originally posted by bedger:
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So correct me if I am wrong, but essentially people with severe COVID-19 die from ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). Diseases such as covid-19 and influenza can be fatal due to an overreaction of the body’s immune system called a cytokine storm. Cytokines (small proteins) are released by the immune system. The body’s response to infection goes into overdrive. When COVID-19 enters the lungs, it triggers an immune response, attracting immune cells to the region to attack the virus, resulting in localised inflammation. Excessive or uncontrolled levels of cytokines are released which then activate more immune cells, resulting in hyper-inflammation. This is the infection that literally sits on your alveolus (tiny membranes at the end of your lungs that pass oxygen into your bloodstream) literally drowning patients as they cannot get oxygen through to the bloodstream as their alveolus are massively inflamed impeding the transfer. People get no oxygen to their bloodstream, hence the drowning analogies.
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Four out of five patients on ventilators are dying. The mortality rate in the US is still high. Which family will refuse a chance to be part of a clinical trial to improve the chance of survival in a dismal scenario? The 240-patient trial is enrolling in 20 hospitals. I expect they could be fully enrolled by the end of April. Am I being too optimistic ? I would be really surprised if there is no data monitoring committee in place to review the blinded data periodically. Given the dire situation, it's quite possible we could get some news end of May or early June.
(20min delay)