Background: The SARS-CoV-2 infection has widely spread to become the greatest public health challenge to date, the COVID-19 pandemic. Different fatality rates among countries are probably due to non-standardized records being carried out by local health authorities. The Spanish case-fatality rate is 11.22%, far higher than those reported in Asia or by other European countries. A multicentre retrospective study of demographic, clinical, laboratory and immunological features of 584 Spanish COVID-19 hospitalized patients and their outcomes was performed. The use of renin-angiotensin system blockers was also analysed as a risk factor. Results: In this study, 27.4% of cases presented a mild course, 42.1% a moderate one and for 30.5% of cases, the course was severe. Ages ranged from 18 to 98 (average 63). Almost 60 % (59.8%) of patients were male. Interleukin 6 was higher as severity increased. On the other hand, CD8 lymphocyte count was significantly lower as severity grew and subpopulations CD4, CD8, CD19, and NK showed concordant lowering trends. Severity-related natural killer percent descents were evidenced just within aged cases. A significant severity-related decrease of CD4 lymphocytes was found in males. The use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors was associated with a better prognosis. The angiotensin II receptor blocker use was associated with a more severe course.

HighlightsInnate immune activation during Covid-19 infection is associated with pernicious clinical outcome.BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is a worldwide threat that has already caused more than 3 000 000 deaths. It is characterized by different patterns of disease evolution depending on host factors among which old-age and pre-existing comorbidities play a detrimental role. Previous coronavirus epidemics, notably SARS-CoV, were associated with increased serum neopterin levels, which can be interpreted as a sign of acute innate immunity in response to viral infection. Here we hypothesize that neopterin may serve as a biomarker of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection and Covid-19 disease severity.MethodsWe measured neopterin blood levels by ELISA. Seric concentration was quantified from 256 healthy donors and 374 Covid-19 patients at hospital admission. Enrolled Covid-19 patients were all symptomatic and displayed a large spectrum of comorbidities. Patients were followed until disease resolution or death.ResultsSevere and critically ill SARS-CoV-2 infected patients were characterized by a profound exacerbation of immune activation characterized by elevated neopterin blood levels. Systemic neopterin levels above 19nM stratified healthy individuals from Covid-19 patients with 87% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Moreover, systemic neopterin levels above 53nM differentiated non-survivors from survivors with 64% specificity and 100% sensitivity.ConclusionWe propose that neopterin concentration measured at arrival to hospital is a hallmark of severe Covid-19 and identifies a high-risk population of pernicious clinical outcome with a need for special medical care.

Lung cancer patients represent a subgroup of special vulnerability in whom the SARS-CoV-2 infection could attain higher rates of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, those patients were recommended to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines once they were approved. However, little was known at that time regarding the degree of immunity developed after vaccination or vaccine-related adverse events, and more uncertainty involved the real need for a third dose. We sought to evaluate the immune response developed after vaccination, as well as the safety and efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in a cohort of patients with lung cancer. Patients were identified through the Oncology/Hematology Outpatient Vaccination Program. Anti-Spike IgG was measured before any vaccine and at 3–6-, 6–9- and 12–15-month time points after the 2nd dose. Detailed clinical data were also collected. In total, 126 patients with lung cancer participated and received at least one dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. At 3–6 months after 2nd dose, 99.1% of baseline seronegative patients seroconverted and anti-Spike IgG titers went from a median value of 9.45 to 720 UI/mL. At the 6–9-month time point, titers raised to a median value of 924 UI/mL, and at 12–15 months, after the boost dose, they reached a median value of 3064 UI/mL. Adverse events to the vaccine were mild, and no SARS- CoV-2 infection-related deaths were recorded. In this lung cancer cohort, COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective irrespective of the systemic anticancer therapy. Most of the patients developed anti-Spike IgG after the second dose, and these titers were maintained over time with low infection and reinfection rates with a mild clinical course.

Background One hundred fifty million contagions, more than 3 million deaths and little more than 1 year of COVID-19 have changed our lives and our health management systems forever. Ageing is known to be one of the significant determinants for COVID-19 severity. Two main reasons underlie this: immunosenescence and age correlation with main COVID-19 comorbidities such as hypertension or dyslipidaemia. This study has two aims. The first is to obtain cut-off points for laboratory parameters that can help us in clinical decision-making. The second one is to analyse the effect of pandemic lockdown on epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory parameters concerning the severity of the COVID-19. For these purposes, 257 of SARSCoV2 inpatients during pandemic confinement were included in this study. Moreover, 584 case records from a previously analysed series, were compared with the present study data. Results Concerning the characteristics of lockdown series, mild cases accounted for 14.4, 54.1% were moderate and 31.5%, severe. There were 32.5% of home contagions, 26.3% community transmissions, 22.5% nursing home contagions, and 8.8% corresponding to frontline worker contagions regarding epidemiological features. Age > 60 and male sex are hereby confirmed as severity determinants. Equally, higher severity was significantly associated with higher IL6, CRP, ferritin, LDH, and leukocyte counts, and a lower percentage of lymphocyte, CD4 and CD8 count. Comparing this cohort with a previous 584-cases series, mild cases were less than those analysed in the first moment of the pandemic and dyslipidaemia became more frequent than before. IL-6, CRP and LDH values above 69 pg/mL, 97 mg/L and 328 U/L respectively, as well as a CD4 T-cell count below 535 cells/μL, were the best cut-offs predicting severity since these parameters offered reliable areas under the curve. Conclusion Age and sex together with selected laboratory parameters on admission can help us predict COVID-19 severity and, therefore, make clinical and resource management decisions. Demographic features associated with lockdown might affect the homogeneity of the data and the robustness of the results.