Open AccessMultiple Peaked Cytokine Storm: Is Multiple Exposures to the COVID-19 Virus a Possible Cause?
Author(s) -
Amarjeet Kumar,
Ajeet Kumar,
Ajeet Kumar,
Neeraj Kumar,
Veena Singh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
indian journal of critical care medicine/indian journal of critical care medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.317
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1998-359X
pISSN - 0972-5229
DOI - 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23786
Subject(s) - cytokine storm , medicine , proinflammatory cytokine , sepsis , coronavirus , procalcitonin , cytokine , incubation period , immunology , immune system , virus , disease , covid-19 , inflammation , infectious disease (medical specialty) , incubation , biology , biochemistry
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is the pathogen that causes coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Recent studies have shown that the "cytokine storm" (high concentration of proinflammatory cytokines) may contribute to the mortality of COVID-19. Repeated exposure to the virus can lead to a dose-dependent immune response that may be associated with more disease severity and higher mortality. Sudden deterioration/increased oxygen consumption after initial improvement may be due to multiple surges of cytokines storm within a short period, the possible cause may be due to multiple exposures within the incubation period. We hypothesize that multiple surges in cytokines storm in some patients may be due to multiple exposures of the same patient within the incubation period, sepsis, or other inflammatory lesions inside the body. In our cases, sepsis as a cause of cytokine storm was ruled out by doing the procalcitonin test, which was within the normal limit.