Understanding the two faces of the COVID-19 immune response to predict clinical course and define strategies for early and late phase intervention

The immune system plays a striking dual role in COVID-19. An effective immune response ensures that the virus is attacked and cleared, but if this does not work properly, hyper-activation of the immune system appears to occur, which can lead to serious problems. It is unclear what exactly goes wrong in the immune system in patients with a serious course and how they can best be treated. The use of immune-suppressing medications is one possible strategy. Research and expected outcomes In this study, a collaboration between the UMCU, RIVM and VUmc, a model is developed of the underlying immune response in different phases of COVID by measuring functional cellular defense and circulating protein profiles of patients of different ages and with a variation in disease severity. -19. In addition, predictive biomarkers will be identified and validated that provide insight into optimal timing for specific treatments.