News Health & Medicine

Immune cells’ intense reaction to the coronavirus may lead to pneumonia

The virus appears to target macrophages that reside in the lung tissue

COVID patient lung x-ray checked by doctors

Health workers in Ecuador examine a chest X-ray from a COVID-19 patient in early 2022. A new study suggests that immune cells that reside in the lung tissue may play a role in the progression of a coronavirus infection to pneumonia.

RODRIGO BUENDIA/Getty Images

By Aimee Cunningham

The intense reaction of one of the lungs’ guardians against infection may help explain why COVID-19 can become severe.

Read this story for free

Enter your email address for continued access to Science News

By continuing, you acknowledge that you are at least 13 years of age and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.  Under 13?  Check out Science News Explores.

 

OR
Use up and down arrow keys to explore.Use right arrow key to move into the list.Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.Use tab key to enter the current list item.Use escape to exit the menu.Use the Shift key with the Tab key to tab back to the search input.
Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Continue without supporting us

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS
  3. Disable any privacy or tracking protection extensions such as Firefox Enhanced Tracking Protection or DuckDuckGo Privacy.

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers, tracking protection or privacy extensions).