Thread by @happyintheair

For people asking why the virus is bad and how it kills people please read this from the news in China. It shows how deadly it can potentially be and why it's not "just the flu"

Translation in thread below:

#coronavirus #covid19 #SARSCoV2

[What is an "inflammatory storm"? ]
The new type of coronavirus continues to replicate after entering the human body, destroying a large number of normal cells and causing lung damage. At the same time, the infected cells alert the human immune system, and the immune system will

release antagonistic cytokines. They will attract lymphocytes distributed in other parts to the lesion site to kill microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. .

When a large number of cytokines are released into the blood in a short period of time, a "cytokine storm" or

"inflammatory storm" will form. Generally speaking, normal immunity is protection, and excessive immunity is damage. They will not only kill viruses and bacteria, but also cause damage to normal cells, resulting in damage to lungs, kidneys, heart and other organs, and even

failure.

[Who is vulnerable to a "inflammatory storm"? ]
In clinically severe cases, part of the disease is getting worse because the immune system is too weak to control the replication of the virus; part of it is caused by the "inflammatory storm". After being infected by the

virus, the human body will have an immune response, so as long as it is not a person with low immunity, an inflammatory storm may occur.

The size of the "inflammatory storm" varies from person to person, and the following groups are more likely to suffer severe illness or even

death: People over 60 years of age with underlying diseases are likely to cause serious complications after the inflammation storm occurs, leading to the seriousness of the disease; very few of them Young people can exacerbate lung damage due to the immune system's overreaction.

[What are the consequences of the "inflammatory storm"? ]
After the "inflammatory storm", the condition of patients with neo-crown pneumonia will rapidly decline. In addition to the inflammatory factors caused by neo-crown virus, it will cause lung damage, resulting in shortness

of breath, depression, blood oxygen saturation and even failure. Myocardium and other organs cause attacks and fail.

[How to fight the "inflammatory storm"? ]
Glucocorticoids are one of the weapons against inflammatory storms, but it is a "double-edged sword". On the one hand,

it can reduce the inflammatory response and help improve the symptoms of hypoxia and respiratory distress; but long-term high-dose use may cause adverse reactions. The new coronary pneumonia diagnosis and treatment plan mentions that glucocorticoids can be used for short-term (3

to 5 days), as appropriate, according to the patient's dyspnea and chest imaging progress. For critically ill patients caused by inflammatory storms, the main intervention method of modern medicine is symptomatic supportive therapy (including ECMO, that is, extracorporeal

membrane oxygenation, a respiratory circulation support technology that can replace the lungs and heart). ("Life Times" WeChat public account)