TY - JOUR T1 - Autoimmunity to annexin A2 predicts mortality among hospitalised COVID-19 patients JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.00918-2021 VL - 58 IS - 4 SP - 2100918 AU - Marisol Zuniga AU - Claudia Gomes AU - Steven E. Carsons AU - Michael T. Bender AU - Paolo Cotzia AU - Qing Robert Miao AU - David C. Lee AU - Ana Rodriguez Y1 - 2021/10/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/4/2100918.abstract N2 - The pathophysiology of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has largely been attributed to a hyper-inflammatory response without a clear indication of the underlying mechanism [1]. There is a characteristic delay in the onset of respiratory distress, approximately 6 to 12 days after the start of symptoms, which is somewhat atypical for other severe viral respiratory infections [2]. Several theories have been proposed for this delay, such as an indolent infection or viral persistence. However, data from viral cultures of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (not PCR) demonstrate a lack of positive cultures beyond day 9 of illness [3].Levels of anti-annexin A2 antibodies at admission strongly predicted mortality among hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Given its critical protective function in the lung, annexin A2 antagonism may play an important role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19. https://bit.ly/2UMPr9wWe want to specifically thank the Center for Biospecimen Research and Development at the NYU School of Medicine, Brian Fallon for bioinformatics support, and all of the volunteers that helped to obtain and process the samples used in this study and other research related to COVID-19. ER -