the most severe cases of SARS-COV2 infection, he found, occurred in patients—typically men—who lacked the ability to elicit a functional type 1 interferon signal after infection. At times, cell biology produces the most peculiar and unexpected of results. These men with severe Covid had preexisting auto-antibodies against type 1 interferon—i.e., their bodies had attacked and rendered the protein nonfunctional even before they had been infected. These patients were already deficient in the type I interferon response—but were unaware of their deficiency until the virus struck. For them, Covid
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