Coronavirus and Immunity

Immune dysregulation and dysfunction are seen as one of the major long-term effects of COVID-19. The effects on the immune system were well-documented early in the pandemic, but there was a lack of clarity on how COVID-19 infections specifically affected the immune system and the potential implications during and after the infection. At the beginning of the pandemic, there were two primary theories regarding the underlying causes of severe illness and death from COVID-19: an overactive immune response and a compromised immune system. The initial factor was associated with an immune system that was overly active. It was noted early in the process that many individuals with severe COVID-19 eventually developed ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). This closely resembled the ARDS brought on by cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH) seen in patients with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV (also a common side effect in cancer patients undergoing CAR-T cell therapies).