Identifying Risk Factors for Secondary Infection Post-SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Patients With Severe and Critical COVID-19

Guo, Mingquan; Gao, Menglu; Gao, Jing; Zhang, Tengfei; Jin, Xin; Fan, Jian; Wang, Qianying; Li, Xin; Chen, Jian; Zhu, Zhaoqin

Emerging evidence has unveiled the secondary infection as one of the mortal causes of post-SARS-CoV-2 infection, but the factors related to secondary bacterial or fungi infection remains largely unexplored. We here systematically investigated the factors that might contribute to secondary infection. By clinical examination index analysis of patients, combined with the integrative analysis with RNA-seq analysis in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell isolated shortly from initial infection, this study showed that the antibiotic catabolic process and myeloid cell homeostasis were activated while the T-cell response were relatively repressed in those with the risk of secondary infection. Further monitoring analysis of immune cell and liver injury analysis showed that the risk of secondary infection was accompanied by severe lymphocytopenia at the intermediate and late stages and liver injury at the early stages of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the metagenomics analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and the microbial culture analysis, to some extent, showed that the severe pneumonia-related bacteria have already existed in the initial infection.