Cytokine Storm Watch

A flurry of research is identifying patterns that set apart COVID-19 patients who are prone to deadly immune system overreactions.

During these “cytokine storms,” molecules leading the first line of immune defense fail to stand down so that antibodies and T cells can take over.  
 
One way forward may be drugs that blunt the immune response without suppressing it completely—a tricky balance.
 
And then there’s the timing issue: “Dose a patient too early with a drug that tempers immune signaling, and they may not respond strongly enough; give it too late, and the worst of the damage may have already been done,” writes Katherine J Wu.
 
The New York Times