LOS ANGELES - A recent report from the National Institutes of Health published on May 11 details how severe COVID-19 is unlike most respiratory illnesses and why it can cause lung failure and death.
The report cites two NIH-funded studies that were both published in the scientific journal Nature. The NIH says these studies provide some of the most detailed analyses of COVID-19 on the human body.
Researchers explained how SARS-CoV-2, the disease that causes COVID-19 "unleashes a devastating series of host events in the lungs prior to death." These "events" include irreparable tissue damage and severe inflammation.