Had there been any further talk of what’s happening in patients blood? Just sperging about this in the treatment thread but will copy it here... I also think there’s a problem with oxygenation. Maybe the haemoglobin is in a state where it’s unable to carry oxygen, or unable to release that oxygen to tissues AND some patients are seeing RBC levels drop as well. The combination, together with viral pneumonia and the layer of gunk coating the alveoli, is enough to put you into a pretty bad state.
It throws up some interesting targets - like cytochrome b5 reductase, G6pd again, but really someone needs to be looking at these patients blood. What percentage of haem is in the met form? Why is it doing that? What’s causing it? There’s form for some viruses causing oxidative haemolysis. Hep E does it and the effect is compounded in g6pd deficiency.
These patients seem to be in a state of oxidative stress. If that precedes the respiratory issues /or arises separately or in parallel it’d explain why Vents have such a poor success rate. The blood either can’t pick the oxygen up or it can’t release it to the tissues. We are missing something fundamental about how this virus kills people.