Impaired local intrinsic immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection in severe COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can lead to severe lower respiratory illness including pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, which can result in profound morbidity and mortality. However, many infected individuals are either asymptomatic or have isolated upper respiratory symptoms, which suggests that the upper airways represent the initial site of viral infection, and that some individuals are able to largely constrain viral pathology to the nasal and oropharyngeal tissues. Which cell types in the human nasopharynx are the primary targets of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how infection influences the cellular organization of the respiratory epithelium remains incompletely understood. Here, we present nasopharyngeal samples from a cohort of 35 individuals

SUBMITTER: Ziegler CGK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7899452 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature