Doctors don’t understand this mysterious condition that kills coronavirus patients

[Chris Smith]

• Doctors treating coronavirus patients have been trying to figure out the immune system's "cytokine storm" that can kill COVID-19 patients.
• These "storms" can occur suddenly, even in patients who are recovering from the disease and people who don't have other underlying conditions.
• Doctors have been using drugs to lower the immune response and avoid these "cytokine storms" with some success, although more studies are required.
• Visit BGR's homepage for more stories.

The coronavirus nightmare is far from over, and we may be looking at a seasonal illness that keeps coming back. The first COVID-19 vaccines will be available next year at the soonest, and plenty of people will still die before then. As of Wednesday morning, there were more than 1,414,000 COVID-19 cases, including more than 83,000 deaths. The US alone accounts for nearly 400,000 COVID-19 patients and almost 13,000 deaths. The curve is yet to be flattened in many countries dealing with the epidemic, but with each day that goes by, scientists are figuring out new things about the illness. Like the fact that COVID-19 can develop neurological or cardiac symptoms. Or that the virus can be killed with ease by an anti-parasitic drug in lab conditions.

While a cure isn't available and we need to wait even more time for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 drug mega trial to run its course, doctors have started figuring out why some people die. And it's not just the elderly and those patients who have other underlying medical conditions who are at risk. It's unexpected deaths in patients who seem to be recovering, only for the disease to take a sudden turn for the worst that can result in death. It's apparently a "cytokine storm" at play, and doctors still don't understand exactly why it happens.

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Doctors don’t understand this mysterious condition that kills coronavirus patients originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 8 Apr 2020 at 09:44:16 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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