The pandemic outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has quickly spread worldwide, creating a serious health crisis. The virus is primarily associated with flu-like symptoms but can also lead to severe pathologies and death. We here present an ordinary differential equation model of the intrahost immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, fitted to experimental data gleaned from rhesus macaques. The model is calibrated to data from a nonlethal infection, but the model can replicate behavior from various lethal scenarios as well. We evaluate the sensitivity of the model to biologically relevant parameters governing the strength and efficacy of the immune response. We also simulate the effect of both anti-inflammatory and antiviral drugs on the host immune response and demonstrate the ability of the model to lessen the severity of a formerly lethal infection with the addition of the appropriately calibrated drug. Our model emphasizes the importance of tight control of the innate immune response for host survival and viral clearance.

严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 的大流行已在全球迅速蔓延，造成了严重的健康危机。该病毒主要与流感样症状有关，但也可能导致严重的疾病和死亡。我们在这里提出了宿主内对 SARS-CoV-2 感染的免疫反应的常微分方程模型，该模型适合从恒河猴收集的实验数据。该模型针对来自非致命感染的数据进行了校准，但该模型也可以复制来自各种致命场景的行为。我们评估模型对控制免疫反应强度和功效的生物学相关参数的敏感性。我们还模拟了抗炎和抗病毒药物对宿主免疫反应的影响，并展示了该模型通过添加适当校准的药物来减轻以前致命感染的严重程度的能力。我们的模型强调了严格控制先天免疫反应对宿主存活和病毒清除的重要性。