We have learned about an interesting study. There’s a drug that mutes the immune response of the body. The study has found that it does not prevent the death of people suffering from COVID-19. So is there, actually, a good treatment for this disease?
Some people that present severe COVID-19 symptoms have the immune system launch with an inflammatory response. This suggests that there’s a link between the immune defense against the virus and the illness itself. The link is shown through the association between the high levels of a protein – that stimulates the immune system – and the need for ventilation and death.
Researchers tried to treat people with a drug called tocilizumab, which interferes with the IL-6 activity. In the trial with 243 people that have moderate symptoms, they did not find a different change in deaths or in those people who need ventilation. They want to do more research on this matter.
Research shows that antibodies will fight against the severe symptoms of the new coronavirus.
Researchers from the Rockefeller University in New York City have taken a look at 37 blood-serum samples. They collected it before this year from patience in the UK. All of the participants had tested positive for the seasonal coronavirus, the one that can cause the common cold.
They found that every serum sample had antibodies that can disable at least one common-cold coronavirus. This blocks the ability of the virus to infect human cells. However, the serum could not disable a hybrid virus that can carry the spike protein of COVID-19. This is one of the most important things when it comes to a virus infecting host cells.
