Figure 1.

Immune system dysregulation in the pathophysiology of COVID-19

When the immune responses are effective in the beginning of the disease, they will inhibit multiplication of the virus, resulting in low viremia, low systemic inflammation, and survival. In case the host defense response is defective in the first stages of the infection (when the patient is still asymptomatic), this would allow the virus to multiply, spread systemically, and to induce ineffective hyperinflammation and a poor prognosis.