09/01/2021 10:33
Clarín.com
International
Updated 09/01/2021 10:33
Until now, the main cause of death from
COVID
has been attributed to simultaneous infections such as bacterial pneumonia or inflammation caused by the exaggerated response of the immune system.
But today a new study suggests that the accumulation of coronavirus in the lungs was the biggest cause of death during the pandemic.
A study, led by researchers from the Grossman School of Medicine, New York University and published in Nature Microbiology, showed that people who died from covid-19 had in their lungs an amount of virus or
viral load about 10 times higher than seriously ill patients who survived
the disease.
"Our results suggest that the body's inability to cope with the large number of viruses that infect the lungs is largely responsible for COVID-19 deaths in the pandemic," says study lead author
Imran Sulaiman
, professor. Assistant to the NYU Langone Health Department of Medicine.
Imran Sulaiman, an associate professor in the NYU Langone Health Department of Medicine and author of the study.
So far,
the coronavirus has killed more than 4 million people worldwide
.
Patients connected to artificial respirators have the worst prognosis:
70% do not overcome the disease.
Experts always attributed the high mortality of other viral pandemics, such as the Spanish flu of 1918 and the swine flu of 2009, to secondary bacterial infections, but it was not clear if this also happened to people with COVID-19.
A man looks at a lung X-ray after he has recovered from covid.
Photo: Reuters.
The goal of the new study was to clarify the role of secondary infections, viral load, and immune cell populations in COVID-19 mortality, according to Sulaiman.
The research focused on the detailed study of the lower respiratory tract in patients with coronavirus,
collecting bacterial and fungal samples from the lungs of 589 men and women
hospitalized at NYU Langone (in Manhattan) and on Long Island.
They all needed artificial respirators.
Pulmonary control, decisive in children and adults.
Photo: AP
A bronchoscopy was performed on 142 patients to clear the airways and the amount of virus contained in the samples was analyzed and the microbes present were identified by studying small fragments of the genetic code of the germs.
The study authors also examined the type of immune cells and compounds located in the lower respiratory tract.
Exhaustive pulmonary control in a patient with covid.
Photo: AP
The study revealed that those who died had on average 50% less production of a type of immune chemical that targets the coronavirus compared to COVID-19 patients who survived the disease.
These customized proteins are part of the body's adaptive immune system, a subset of cells and chemicals that "remember" newly found invading microbes, leaving the body better prepared for future exposures.
"These results suggest that a problem with the adaptive immune system prevents it from effectively fighting the coronavirus. If we could identify the origin of this problem, we could find an effective treatment that strengthens the body's defenses," says the study's co-lead author and professor of the NYU Langone, Leopoldo Segal.
Imaging diagnosis, key to covid recovery.
Photo: EFE
The action protocols of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend the use of antivirals such as remdesivir in seriously ill patients on mechanical ventilation, but Sulaiman believes that in light of the study results, these drugs could be a valuable tool for treating patients.
Source: EFE
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