You’ve probably heard that your best defenses against the coronavirus are washing your hands, practicing social distancing, and having a healthy immune system. It’s that last part—the part you can’t really control for sure—that may have you crossing your fingers.
A dysfunctional immune system, experts say, is one reason that COVID-19 has proven more deadly in older adults and people with certain pre-existing conditions. But it is not always that the immune system is weak. Sometimes the body’s immune response is powerful but so out-of-control that it ends up killing COVID-19 patients. What exactly is going on?
