The wide variation of symptoms found in COVID-19 patients is
due to SARS-CoV-2,
the virus responsible for coronavirus disease. This virus can cause symptoms
ranging from a benign infection to death. The article from
National Institutes of Health describes why certain people develop severe
COVID-19 symptoms. Researchers from the from the COVID Human Genetic
Effort found that many of their 660 patients with severe COVID-19 have rare genetic
variants in genes responsible for defense against the flu. 3.5% of these
patients were completely missing a functional gene. Also, researchers from
the National Institutes of Health found that among 1000 patients with life
threatening COVID-19 pneumonia, 10% produce autoantibodies. Autoantibodies are
malfunctioning antibodies that target a person's own tissues and organs instead
of antigens. They also discovered that these autoantibodies are responsible for
blocking type I interferons, a set of proteins that protects our cells and
body from viruses. This blockage stops these patients from producing
enough type I interferons to fight off SARS-CoV-2. I do think it's encouraging
to hear that we're learning more about this virus everyday. Also, reading and
learning about some of the reasons why certain groups are more likely to get
severe COVID-19 was also a bit alarming. People may think that they're not at
risk of severe COVID-19 because they're healthy. But, if they have one of these
rare gene variants or produce autoantibodies, they have a high risk of getting
severe COVID-19.
I knew that COVID-19 symptoms varied, but this gives great insight into why that is. Considering there are these variants, there is more of a reason to try staying as safe as possible. Rather than risk getting the virus and finding out you're one of the people this affects, it's best to just not get involved in activities where you can potentially be exposed.
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