ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: T-cell activation is associated with an adverse outcome in COVID-19, but whether T-cell activation and exhaustion relate to persistent respiratory dysfunction and death is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether T-cell activation and exhaustion persist and are associated with prolonged respiratory dysfunction and death after hospitalization for COVID-19. METHODS: Plasma and serum from two Norwegian cohorts of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (n = 414) were analyzed for soluble (s) markers of T-cell activation (sCD25) and exhaustion (sTim-3) during hospitalization and follow-up. RESULTS: Both markers were strongly associated with acute respiratory failure, but only sTim-3 was independently associated with 60-day mortality. Levels of sTim-3 remained elevated 3 and 12 months after hospitalization and were associated with pulmonary radiological pathology after 3 months. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest prolonged T-cell exhaustion is an important immunological sequela, potentially related to long-term outcomes after severe COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Cohort Studies , Humans , Lymphocyte Activation , SARS-CoV-2 , T-LymphocytesABSTRACT
Infection with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) may predispose for venous thromboembolism (VTE). There is wide variation in reported incidence rates of VTE in COVID-19, ranging from 3% to 85%. Therefore, the true incidence of thrombotic complications in COVID-19 is uncertain. Here we present data on the incidence of VTE in both hospitalised and non-hospitalised patients from two ongoing prospective cohort studies. The incidence of VTE after diagnosis of COVID-19 was 3·9% [95% confidence interval (CI): 2·1-7·2] during hospitalisation, 0·9% (95% CI: 0·2-3·1) in the three months after discharge and 0·2% (95% CI: 0·00-1·25) in non-hospitalised patients, suggesting an incidence rate at the lower end of that in previous reports.