AUTHOR=Ragab Dina , Salah Eldin Haitham , Taeimah Mohamed , Khattab Rasha , Salem Ramy TITLE=The COVID-19 Cytokine Storm; What We Know So Far JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01446 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.01446 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

COVID-19 is a rapidly spreading global threat that has been declared as a pandemic by the WHO. COVID-19 is transmitted via droplets or direct contact and infects the respiratory tract resulting in pneumonia in most of the cases and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in about 15 % of the cases. Mortality in COVID-19 patients has been linked to the presence of the so-called “cytokine storm” induced by the virus. Excessive production of proinflammatory cytokines leads to ARDS aggravation and widespread tissue damage resulting in multi-organ failure and death. Targeting cytokines during the management of COVID-19 patients could improve survival rates and reduce mortality.