Abstract

COVID-19 is a rapidly spreading global threat that has been declared as a pandemic by the WHO. COVID-19 is transmitted via droplets or direct contact and infects the respiratory tract resulting in pneumonia in most of the cases and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in about 15 % of the cases. Mortality in COVID-19 patients has been linked to the presence of the so-called "cytokine storm" induced by the virus. Excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines leads to ARDS aggravation and widespread tissue damage resulting in multi-organ failure and death. Targeting cytokines during the management of COVID-19 patients could improve survival rates and reduce mortality.

Keywords

ARDSCytokine stormProinflammatory cytokineCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)PneumoniaMedicinePandemicIntensive care medicineCytokineSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Acute respiratory distressImmunologyLungInternal medicineInflammationInfectious disease (medical specialty)Disease

MeSH Terms

AntibodiesMonoclonalHumanizedBetacoronavirusCOVID-19Coronavirus InfectionsCytokine Release SyndromeCytokinesHumansInterleukin-6PandemicsPneumoniaViralReceptorsInterleukin-6Respiratory Distress SyndromeSARS-CoV-2COVID-19 Drug Treatment

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Publication Info

Year
2020
Type
review
Volume
11
Pages
1446-1446
Citations
1662
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Dina Ragab, Haitham Salah Eldin, Mohamed Taeimah et al. (2020). The COVID-19 Cytokine Storm; What We Know So Far. Frontiers in Immunology , 11 , 1446-1446. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01446

Identifiers

DOI
10.3389/fimmu.2020.01446
PMID
32612617
PMCID
PMC7308649

Data Quality

Data completeness: 86%