Does severity of Covid-19 depend on viral dose?

3 points by Merrill ↗ HN
Possibly the severity of Covid-19 is worse if the initial exposure is to a larger number of viral particles. These could infect more cells, causing more rapid proliferation, and more easily overwhelm the immune response. Other factors may be which tissues are infected first, innate immunity, and the vigor of the immune system.

On the other hand, perhaps the multiplier in viral replication is so great that the number of initial viral particles is not much of a factor.

2 comments

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Best guess is "yes". That's speculated to be why several young, healthy doctors have passed away from it - they're not in the danger zone by age or pre-existing condition, but they're exposed to so much virus that it overwhelms their immune system regardless.
While that speculation is plausible, it could also be explained by exhaustion and stress of being overworked well into their illness.