Covid-19 and immune response: weak defences and self-harms

Key words: Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, Immune repertoire, Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, Cytokine storm, Pneumonia

Covid-19 outbreak is about to reach the peak of infected people in Italy. Huge amount of data is being published on this epidemic in all medical journals, with especial concern on severe cases. Unfortunately, most reports are just descriptive and only a few controlled clinical trials are available to unravel the disease pathology and the best therapeutic option. For this reason, the aim of the present paper is to give an update on what is currently known about the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, focusing on the possible weakness of adaptive immunity and excesses of inflammation.