Experts from the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology of the Medical University of Vienna divided the symptoms of a mild form of coronavirus into groups and identified blood biomarkers that allowed monitoring treatment.
The results of a study by Austrian scientists were published in the journal Allergy.
Researchers led by immunologist Winfried Pickl and allergist Rudolf Valens studied 109 patients with mild coronavirus, as well as 98 healthy people, from whom they formed a control group.
Scientists have identified seven groups of manifestations of a mild form of a new type of coronavirus:
1) With the symptoms of “flu” – fever, chills, cough and fatigue;
2) With symptoms of a “cold” – sneezing, rhinitis, dry throat and nasal congestion;
3) With pain in joints and muscles;
4) With inflammation of the eyes and mucous membranes;
5) With breathing problems, pneumonia and shortness of breath;
6) With gastrointestinal problems – nausea and diarrhea, headache;
7) With loss of taste and smell.
The experts classified the first three groups as systemic symptoms, the last two as organ-specific.
“The loss of smell and taste mainly affects people with a fresh immune response, as measured by the number of immune cells, T-lymphocytes, which have recently come from the thymus gland,” explained Pickle.
Scientists say that even a “mild” coronavirus leaves behind significant changes in the immune system, which can be detected within 10 weeks after the onset of the disease. A low level of granulocytes (responsible for the fight against bacterial pathogens of leukocytes) has become one of these signs.
“In those who had been ill with COVID-19 in a mild form, memory cells developed in the compartments of CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocytes, and CD8 T-lymphocytes remained highly activated for a long time,” the immunologist noted.
According to him, this means that a couple of weeks after the initial infection, the immune system is still actively fighting the disease. But the number of regulatory cells is greatly reduced. Pickle explained that this is dangerous as it can lead to an autoimmune reaction.
Elevated levels of antibody-producing immune cells were found in the blood of those who recovered. The higher the temperature of the sick person, the higher the level of antibodies was.
The study showed that with the coronavirus, the human immune system “doubled” its efforts, as immune cells and antibodies acted in combination. The authors hope that the biomarkers identified during the study will help develop effective vaccines and allow for a more accurate COVID monitoring system.
– .
