Researchers are looking at why some Covid-19 patients seem to experience a highly overactive immune response that may be putting them at risk – and at what stage of the disease this response is likely to start.
Clinical reports from China, Italy and the US suggest that a subgroup of severely affected patients exhibit a ‘hyperinflammatory’ response to Covid-19 (COV-HI). Hyperinflammation occurs in other conditions and happens when the body’s immune system overreacts in response to an infection.
A treatment approach known as immunomodulation can be effective in hyperinflammation, and trials indicate this approach is helping in cases of proposed COV-HI.
But clinicians don’t yet know precisely what clinical features characterise COV-HI, or at what stage of the disease course COV-HI typically emerges. A UCLH team led by Dr Jessica Manson is now investigating these questions.
Dr Manson said: “Our understanding of COV-HI is limited, and we are looking for answers to a number of questions. We want to know whether the proposed COV-HI observed in patients abroad is seen in UK patients, whether we can define exactly what COV-HI is, and whether we can predict when it will occur in any individual patient. We also want to know how it affects survival rates. Answering these questions would enable our treatment approaches to be refined.”
The researchers will look at patient data collected through a network of clinicians and scientists with broad experience of identifying and treating hyperinflammation.
