News

Our discussion of what the white blood cells (WBCs) do in a virus infection like COVID-19 has focused largely on the lymphocytes (#41), particularly the B cells and T cells (#7, #18, #21, #34) that are central to virus-specific ‘adaptive’ immunity and the lasting protection induced by infection or vaccination (#43, #44, #45). But we’ve said very little about the plethora of other WBC types (#7) that, originating from precursors in bone marrow (BM), are the major players in the ‘rapid response’ force that deploys, via the ‘super-highway’ of the blood, to exit into sites of virus invasion and tissue damage; cells like neutrophils (microphages) and the monocytes that differentiate to be macrophages (big eaters) are among the first ‘boots on the ground’ when a pathogen ‘sneaks through’.