Patients seriously affected by flu or Covid may have high levels of crucial enzyme, research finds

Scientists found an enzyme known as oleoyl-ACP-hydrolase was highly elevated in some of the most unwell patients, including some who died. Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Some patients who fall seriously ill or die from common respiratory viruses have abnormally high levels of a crucial enzyme, new Australian-led research has found.

The discovery may help provide part of the answer as to why otherwise healthy people sometimes die from infectious diseases, while others fight off viruses unscathed.