‘Exploding' cells play role in severe Covid, scientists say

Cells containing the novel coronavirus Sars-COV-2 seen through a microscope

- SAMUEL LOVETT

Cells infected with the Covid-19 virus can “explode”, contributing to the development of severe disease, researchers have shown. Scientists from the US and the UK looked at blood samples from people infected with Covid, and found that about 6 per cent of monocytes - immune cells that patrol the body for foreign invaders - were undergoing a type of cell death known as pyroptosis, which is associated with inflammation, after being infected by the virus.

A small proportion of macrophages - another type of immune cell, which engulfs and destroys foreign cellular debris - also became inflamed after being infected by Sars-CoV-2. In the case of the two cell types, it's believed that the virus activated what are known as inflammasomes: large molecules that trigger a cascade of inflammatory responses that can culminate in cell death.