ST. LOUIS – One of the most mysterious things about COVID-19 is its ability to turn a person’s immune system against itself. It causes what is called a “cytokine storm.”
Most people can recover from COVID but others continue to fight the virus even after it has cleared the body.
People get progressively sicker and their immune system overreacts. The body produces cytokines as an immune response.
When it produces too many of them, it causes a cytokine storm. The result is damage to the lungs, multiple organ failure, and even death.
Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis is leading the nation in a new clinical trial to test medications to prevent a cytokine storm.
The study will look at a combination of drugs that are already on being used to curb immune system and reduce inflammation. These are drugs that have been studied.
About 60 centers across the country will participate in the clinical trial.
