New discovery may explain why certain coronavirus patients die

[Chris Smith]

• Researchers studying coronavirus patients' immune responses might finally be able to explain why some people risk developing life-threatening COVID-19 complications.
• The COVID Human Genetic Effort detailed a pair of breakthrough findings about interferon issues that might put lives at risk during the course of COVID-19.
• The scientists found that some people have autoantibodies to interferon, while others may suffer from previously undiagnosed genetic conditions that impact interferon functionality.

Whether it’s the novel coronavirus or a different infectious disease that can lead to life-threatening complications, vaccines are only a part of the solution. The biggest news of the week was the incredible announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech that says their drug was found to be over 90% effective against the pathogen so far. The final results from the Phase 3 trial may vary and that efficacy figure might end up being lower, but it’s obviously a great place to start.

Preventing infections and severe COVID-19 cases will not be enough as long as thousands of people continue to die of complications worldwide. It will take time for vaccines to meet demand, and more people will get infected in the meantime. The world still needs effective therapies that can further reduce the risk of death until a large percentage of the world is immunized, and transmission risk is significantly reduced. A pair of studies might have just delivered the breakthrough coronavirus finding that could allow doctors to do just that, prevent more COVID-19 deaths in the coming months while we wait for vaccines and other effective treatments.

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New discovery may explain why certain coronavirus patients die originally appeared on BGR.com on Sun, 15 Nov 2020 at 15:06:05 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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