A cytokine storm is a deadly reaction in which you urgently need to go to the hospital. When and in whom does it develop? What tests should I take so as not to miss its beginning?
The situation with the coronavirus in Ukraine remains tense. The country has been hitting hospital admissions records over the past few days. According to doctors' observations, not only patients from risk groups are admitted to hospitals, but also young people without bad habits and chronic diseases. Increasingly, one of the reasons for hospitalization is a cytokine storm - a violent inflammatory response of the body in response to the covid virus. It does not respond to treatment at home, and if you delay hospitalization, it can end in death. A doctor and a blogger told us about how to understand that a cytokine storm begins, and what tests can check this. Taras Zhiravetsky.
What is a cytokine storm
With a cytokine storm, the temperature goes off scale at 40 degrees / istockphoto.com
Such a phenomenon as a cytokine storm has been known in medicine for a long time. This is a pathological (that is, too violent) immune response to any disease. In response to the entry of the virus into the body, it begins to release cytokines - substances that provoke inflammation and thereby give a signal that an immune response is needed. Normally, by the "tip" of cytokines, immunity cells enter the "battle" and neutralize the infection. But sometimes it happens that too many cytokines are produced. Because of this, immunity fails and begins to infect everything, including the cells of the body itself.
The cytokine storm can be a reaction to various diseases: it "accompanies" influenza, pneumonia, sepsis and surgical interventions. Until recently, it was rarely seen in patients with coronavirus. However, now, according to Taras Zhiravetsky, he has become one of the frequent "companions" of the Delta and Delta + strain.
One of the main dangers of the cytokine storm in covid is its rapid and rapid development. “At the same time, there is a nuance: until the 6-7th day of illness, everything can look very good,” notes Taras Zhiravetsky. - The patient can bring down the temperature, not experience any shortness of breath, or other signs of a severe course of the disease. On days 7-8, the situation deteriorates sharply: the patient begins to suffocate, severe weakness appears, the temperature jumps to 39-40 degrees. On the 9th day, the saturation falls, and the person has to be urgently hospitalized in a hospital. "
How to recognize a cytokine storm
A drop in oxygen saturation is one of the signs of a cytokine storm in covid / istockphoto.com
The main sign of the onset of a reaction is a sharp deterioration in well-being. A cytokine storm with covid is characterized by a high temperature, which is very difficult to get off, shortness of breath, confusion, chest pain, saturation drop below 95. If you or someone in your family has these symptoms, you need to immediately call an ambulance. At home, a cytokine storm cannot be treated, warns Taras Zhiravetsky.
“Even if by some miracle you get an oxygen concentrator, the medicines that will appoint a family doctor at home, will not help to overcome the inflammatory process and improve the condition patient ",- says the doctor.
The risk group for the development of a cytokine storm usually includes people with pathologies of the immune system or weakened immunity. Most often, it is weakened due to age - in the elderly and children under 12 years of age. However, Taras Zhiravetsky says that today even young people are hospitalized with such a reaction. Among them are athletes, adherents of a healthy lifestyle and even those vaccinated against covid with two doses of vaccine.
How to “predict” a cytokine storm
CRP analysis will help predict the development of a cytokine storm / istockphoto.com
It is impossible to prevent a cytokine storm, but it can be predicted, the expert said. One of the markers of an acute inflammatory response in the body is considered to be an increased level of c-reactive protein. Usually, an analysis for CRP is taken in order to determine if a bacterial infection has connected to the virus. However, in the case of the coronavirus, it can be a signal that a person will begin to "storm".
“It is very important here to pass the analysis correctly,” notes Taras Zhiravetskiy. - At the onset of the disease, the level of CRP may differ very slightly from the norm (5 units). However, the cytokine storm does not begin immediately, but a week after infection. Therefore, I recommend taking an analysis for CRP on the 6-7th day of illness, and then, if possible, after another couple of days, in order to track the dynamics. If the analysis showed that your CRP level exceeds 50 units, you are at risk. Be sure to inform your family doctor about this. "
Analysis for CRP today is not the reason for hospitalization. Moreover, on the basis of its results, the diagnosis of "cytokine storm" is not made. Therefore, you should not immediately call an ambulance and demand that a car be sent for you.
“This is a kind of prognosis of complications. Based on the results of the analysis, the family doctor can understand that if not today, then tomorrow the patient's oxygen saturation will drop, and he will need to look for a place in the hospital ", - says Taras Zhiravetsky.
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