Tuesday, June 02, 2020

SARS CoV-2 Infects Blood Vessels

Researchers reporting in The Lancet have determined that the novel corona virus is not just a respiratory disease, but also attacks blood vessels.  This new research explains why the virus causes seemingly disparate symptoms such as the pediatric multisystem inflamation syndrome, and the toe rash syndrome known as "covid toe".

The study states that the virus infects endothelial cells in blood vessels which control the flow of fluids between vessel and organ.  It uses the ACE2 protein receptor to invade healthy cells, which occurs in blood vessels, lung, heart, kidney, and intestines among other organs.  Researchers studied cases of patients who died of severe cases of COVID-19.  One was a 71 year old man who died of multiple organ failure and had a transplanted kidney.  Upon disection the kidney showed microscopic signs of viral infection as well as the infection of the heart, lung and small bowel.

These research findings are consistent with a growing number of clinical cases in which patients have died of multiple organ failure, strokes, and/or acute inflammation response leading to sepsis. As of last month, one report found that up to 30 percent of patients who are seriously ill with the novel corona virus develop blood clots that become dangerous. This new data makes SARS CoV-2 more dangerous that previously thought, especially for the elderly and those  with other morbidity.

US COVID-19 Deaths (est.): 147,132.

World-class jerk: "It's like the flu"...