RIPK3 and COVID-19: However, MLKL and RIPK3 levels increase over time and are predictive of poor patient survival.80,81 Interestingly, RIPK3 plasma levels were significantly elevated in ICU patients needing ventilation, leading to ventilator-induced lung injury.82 It is worth noting that in the context of COVID-19, critically ill patients require ventilation, which, in some cases, is thought to induce ventilator-induced lung injury.