Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus / 29.09.2020
Immune Mediators Contribute to More Severe COVID-19 Infection in Men
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Gizem Kilic MSc, PhD Candidate}
Radboud University Medical Center
Department of Internal Medicine
Laboratory of Experimental Internal Medicine
Nijmegen
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Having emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019, novel coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) has become a major health crisis affecting worldwide. Although the disease symptoms are mild in most of the cases, it is known that advanced age and co-morbidities such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases increase the risk of disease severity. Moreover, epidemiological data from different countries indicated that the mortality rate is higher in males compared to females. There are reports suggesting that some viral and bacterial infection are sex-biased; however, why males are more susceptible to develop severe COVID-19 infection has not been fully understood yet.
Dr. Auger[/caption]
Katherine A. S. Auger, MD, MSc
Division of Hospital Medicine
James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence,
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings Network
Cincinnati, Ohio
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: All states closed schools in the spring of 2020 to try to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Our study demonstrated a large, significant association between school closure and fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths even when accounting for other state policies.
Dr. Glicksberg[/caption]
Benjamin Glicksberg, PhD
Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Member of the Mount Sinai COVID Informatics Center
Member of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Healt
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Reports from health systems that detailed the clinical characteristics and outcomes of their COVID-19 patients were instrumental in helping other health systems rapidly adapt and know what to expect. There are few studies, however, that assess what happens to these patients after they were discharged from the hospital.
In our work, we address this gap by determining both how many individuals re-present to the hospital within 14 days, and what clinical characteristics of these patients differ from those who do not. Such information is critical in order to continue to refine optimal treatment plans and discharge decisions for patients of all backgrounds and clinical profiles. To provide more context to the question, we also determined if and how these factors changed between initial presentation and readmission to the hospital.
Ruth Fernandez-Ruiz, MD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Rheumatology
NYU Langone Heath
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) represent a unique population in considering risk for COVID-19 with biologic, genetic, demographic, clinical and treatment issues at play. By the nature of their chronic inflammatory autoimmune condition, the presence of comorbidities, and regular use of immunosuppressants, these individuals would traditionally be considered at high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 and possibly having worse outcomes from the viral infection.
However, it might be speculated that inherently elevated type I Interferon, characteristic of the majority of patients with SLE, confers a protective effect as a first line anti-viral defense. Additionally, hydroxychloroquine, which was suggested as a potential therapeutic agent for COVID-19 early on, is used in most patients with SLE. Accordingly, we initiated this study to provide critical data needed to address the frequency and severity of COVID-19 in patients with SLE.
