Coronavirus: Destructive 'autoantibodies' develop in some survivors - Daily Mail

Immune cells that coronavirus survivors develop in an attempt to fight the infection may turn on some of them, attacking healthy tissues, new research suggest. ?

The off-target assaults of these rogue immune cells may be the culprit of COVID-19 'long-haulers' lingering symptoms, the Emory University scientists suspect. .

A growing number of coronavirus survivors are reporting symptoms that linger months after they clear the virus.

The number of coronavirus survivors suffering 'long-covid' is hard to pin down, but ever-growing. .

They had also noticed that some of the immune proteins and cells in COVID-19 patients' blood suggested misdirected antibody attacks

These are called 'autoantibodies' - antibodies the human immune system makes to fight itself.  

More than 70 percent of the half of the group that had been sickest had these self-destructive immune cells, and many patients also had antibodies that neutralize a protein that plays a critical role in the formation of healthy blood clotting, known as rheumatoid factor. 

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