A form of inflammatory cell death called panoptosis triggers the storm of cytokines, or inflammatory proteins, that causes critical illness in COVID-19, researchers say. During inflammatory cell death, cells spew out their contents instead of neatly packaging them away as happens during routine cell death, Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti of St. Jude Children s Research Hospital told Reuters. Neighboring cells see the cytokines released and the other unexpected debris as a sign of danger, and they can respond by secreting more cytokines, allowing the cytokine storm to build.
Her team identified a synergy between two cytokines, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma, as the cause of panoptosis in COVID-19. Mice given TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma developed the symptoms and organ damage of COVID-19 and died rapidly, Kanneganti said.
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Health experts are weighing in after a local nurse tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
In a Facebook message posted on December 18, Matthew W., an ER nurse at at two different local hospitals, talked about receiving the Pfizer vaccine that day. He told ABC 10News his arm was sore for a day but he suffered no other side effects.
Six days later on Christmas Eve after working a shift in the COVID-19 unit Matthew, 45, became sick. He got the chills and later came down with muscle aches and fatigue.
The day after Christmas, he went to a drive-up hospital testing site and tested positive for COVID-19.