If you are medically inclined, you might find this story disturbing. We should remark that the paper evoking the story has not been peer-reviewed. The story is printed in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and the authors are all from institutions in Guangdong, China.
Here are the key take-a-ways. The virus uses the same strategy as HIV and some other viruses like Hepatitis-B to evade the immune system. The virus apparently causes a downregulation of the MHC-1 which is in all nucleated cells of the body. This downregulation causes MHC-1 to disappear from the surface of the infected cell depriving the immune system of the necessary information to combat the virus, rendering CD-8 T-cells, NK-cells, and macrophages ineffective.
Secondly, any vaccine that wants to use the presence of the upregulated MHC-1 protein as part of their immunization strategy will probably be doomed to failure.
Third, if this virus is successful in escaping immune detection it may well become a chronic condition, especially in asymptomatic carriers.
Forth, the paper reports that chloroquine restores the surface expression (upregulation) of MHC-1.
Fifth, It appears that the virus routes the downregulated MHC-1 molecule to the cell's late endosomes or lysosomes for destruction. So, not only is the MHC-1 not on the surface of the cell but the virus destroys it.
With all this in mind, remember that the paper has not been peer-review and the study needs to be duplicated. Also, remember that this is China and there has been some misinformation before. The paper's link is in the first comment
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