New York, July 20 (TIWN) US researchers have discovered a functional autoantibody in Covid-19 patients that contributes to the disease's development and the "firestorm" of blood clots and inflammation it induces.

A growing body of studies suggests Covid-19 emulates many aspects of systemic auto-immune disorders, including the release of a flurry of overactive immune cells that produce toxic webs of proteins and DNA called neutrophil extracellular traps, or NETs.  For this study, the team analysed serum from over 300 hospitalised Covid patients, searching for a novel autoantibody that shields the toxic NETs from being destroyed and produces a lasting noxious effect in a patient's body.