Methods of Treating Cytokine Storm Infections, Including COVID-19, By Inhibiting CCR5/CCL5 (RANTES) Interaction, and Compositions for Practicing the Same

A method of treating a subject for a critical or severe form of a disease involving hypercytokinemia, the method comprising:

• administering to the subject a CCR5/CCL5 interaction inhibitor, wherein the subject is identified to have a higher level of CCL5/RANTES in a test sample obtained from the subject compared to a control sample or a reference value,
• to treat the subject for a mild, moderate, critical or severe form of a disease involving hypercytokinemia.

A method of assessing the severity of a disease involving hypercytokinemia in a subject, the method comprising:

• (a) determining the level of CCL5/RANTES in a test sample obtained from the subject, and
• (b) assessing the severity of the disease based on the determined level of CCL5/RANTES in the test sample.

A method comprising:

• assaying the level of CCL5/RANTES in a sample obtained from a subject suffering from a disease involving hypercytokinemia.

A device configured to indicate whether the level of CCL5/RANTES in a sample obtained from a subject suffering from a disease involving hypercytokinemia is above or below a predetermined threshold.