Covid Virus May Spread by Turning Cells Into Targets, Study Says

The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 may spread through the lungs by turning previously resistant cells into targets for infection, a finding that helps explain the widespread inflammation and organ damage seen in severe cases and points to a potential new treatment.

Lung cells release tiny particles that carry the key proteins the virus uses to enter cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York found. When those particles are taken up by other cells, including immune and blood vessel cells, they can make them newly vulnerable to infection, according to a study published Friday ...