Today, there is widespread recognition the novel coronavirus is far more unpredictable than a simple respiratory virus. Often it attacks the lungs, but it can also strike anywhere from the brain to the toes. Many doctors are focused on treating the inflammatory reactions it triggers and its capacity to cause blood clots, even as they struggle to help patients breathe.
Learning about a new disease on the fly, with more than 78,000 U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic, they have little solid research to guide them. The World Health Organization?s database already lists more than 14,600 papers on covid-19. Even the world?s premier public health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have constantly altered their advice to keep pace with new developments.
?We don?t know why there are so many disease presentations,? said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University?s Mailman School of Public Health. ?Bottom line, this is just so new that there?s a lot we don?t know.?
