Last opportunity to understand pathology of COVID-19 before vaccination skews the research
How can we effectively treat and manage COVID-19 without a detailed understanding of the disease? Currently, I am researching the immunological and pathological changes in the asymptomatic infection but struggle to find good answers.
One case of a patient admitted for pneumonectomy and was subsequently found to have COVID-19. This was one of the only papers demonstrating early histological insights into this disease. The lungs still had diffuse alveolar damage with prominent lymphocytes and no neutrophils. This is important as it allows us to see the progression of disease even in the asymptomatic phase.
Read paper here >
These pathological details will become more difficult to interpret after mass vaccination as the immune response is likely to be different.
Assuming that vaccination will completely eliminate COVID-19 is hopeful, but unlikely. It will become even more challenging to understand pathophysiology at that point.