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RIO – A study released last week found that some Covid-19 survivors carry worrying signs that their immune systems have transformed and started to attack. Patients are producing molecules called “autoantibodies,” which target the genetic material in human cells instead of the virus.
This erroneous immune response can leave the patient with Covid-19 in serious condition. It may also explain why some disease survivors have persistent problems months after treatment and the virus has disappeared from their bodies.
The findings have important treatment implications: Using existing tests that can detect autoantibodies, doctors can identify patients who can benefit from the procedures used to combat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. There is no cure for these diseases, but some therapeutic resources reduce the frequency and severity of outbreaks.
“It is possible that treatment may be more effective with the appropriate patients using some of these more aggressive drugs,” said Matthew Woodruff, immunologist at Emory University in Atlanta and lead author of the work.
The results were presented last Friday on the MedRxiv prepress server and have not yet been published in a scientific journal. The consulted experts stressed that the researchers who conducted the study are known for careful and meticulous work and that the results are not unexpected because other viral diseases also activate autoantibodies.
“I’m not surprised, but it’s interesting to see that this is actually happening,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. – It is possible that even moderate to mild disease can induce this type of antibody response.
For months it has been clear that the coronavirus can get out of control of the immune system in some people, causing more damage to the body than the virus itself.
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