A study was recently published by scientists from China and Australia that studied the immune system’s reaction to COVID-19 inside bats.
Bats are able to contract the virus that’s proven to be deadly to humans, but they don’t get sick.
The discovery is that there are clear stages with preferred time frames for specific medical therapy during the cycle of COVID-19 in a human body.
The first thing experts did was clearly outline the three stages in an infected human.
Stage 1 of COVID-19:
This stage lasts 1-14 days, and the virus sets up a home in its new host. Some people remain asymptomatic, while around 80% have mild to moderate symptoms and 15% develop severe COVID. 5% become critically ill.
Stage 2 of COVID-19:
This stage starts around 4-10 days after symptoms begin, where the virus continues to grow and moderate illness develops. This is when other organs begin being impacted, like the brain which results in headaches and vomiting.
Stage 3 of COVID-19:
This stage introduces respiratory illness, multi-organ issues, immune cell exhaustion, and hyperinflammation around 6-15 days after initial symptoms began.
Final Stage of COVID-19:
This occurs when the damage to a person’s immune system exceeds that caused by the virus.
Natural immunity
Bats simply do not get sick, where with humans, some also remain asymptomatic while others die.
Innate immunity, what bats have, is the best outcome for humans and works effectively to protect the person. This mainly occurs in young people and bats.
Bats and these humans have a higher baseline of immune proteins that work to fight infection, and bats have them so it balances out the illness instead of sending their bodies into a craze.
One solution scientists came up with is to look for blood markers in a patients body that signal whether they have high or low amounts of these proteins, as well as reductions in cells that work to fight the virus so these proteins that help bats and asymptomatic humans can be injected into humans in a timely fashion.
By intervening during Stage 1, antivirals can be administered as well as anti-inflammatories.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].