ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has been widely spreading. We aimed to examine adaptive immune cells in non-severe patients with persistent SARS-CoV-2 shedding. 37 non-severe patients with persistent SARS-CoV-2 presence that were transferred to Zhongnan hospital of Wuhan University were retrospectively recruited to the PP (persistently positive) group, which was further allocated to PPP group (n = 19) and PPN group (n = 18), according to their testing results after 7 days (N = negative). Epidemiological, demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected and analyzed. Data from age- and sex-matched non-severe patients at disease onset (PA [positive on admission] patients, n = 37), and lymphocyte subpopulation measurements from matched 54 healthy subjects were extracted for comparison (HC). Compared with PA patients, PP patients had much improved laboratory findings. The absolute numbers of CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and NK cells were significantly higher in PP group than that in PA group, and were comparable to that in healthy controls. PPP subgroup had markedly reduced B cells and T cells compared to PPN group and healthy subjects. Finally, paired results of these lymphocyte subpopulations from 10 PPN patients demonstrated that the number of T cells and B cells significantly increased when the SARS-CoV-2 tests turned negative. Persistent SARS-CoV-2 presence in non-severe COVID-19 patients is associated with reduced numbers of adaptive immune cells. Monitoring lymphocyte subpopulations could be clinically meaningful in identifying fully recovered COVID-19 patients.
Subject(s)
B-Lymphocytes/cytology , Coronavirus Infections/pathology , Pneumonia, Viral/pathology , T-Lymphocytes/cytology , Adult , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , B-Lymphocytes/metabolism , Betacoronavirus/isolation & purification , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/cytology , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism , COVID-19 , Case-Control Studies , Coronavirus Infections/immunology , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Female , Humans , Killer Cells, Natural/cytology , Killer Cells, Natural/immunology , Killer Cells, Natural/metabolism , Male , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/immunology , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2 , Severity of Illness Index , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , T-Lymphocytes/metabolismABSTRACT
From December 25, 2019 to January 31, 2020, 33 cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were identified in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, China, yet none of the affiliated HCWs was infected. Here we analyzed the infection control measures used in three different departments in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University and correlated the measures with the corresponding infection data of HCWs affiliated with these departments. We found that three infection control measures, namely the isolation of the presumed positive patients, the use of facemasks and intensified hand hygiene play important roles in preventing nosocomial transmission of COVID-19.