Virologic and clinical characteristics for prognosis of severe COVID-19: a retrospective observational study in Wuhan, China

Sha Fu; Xiaoyu Fu; Yang Song; Min Li; Pin-hua Pan; Tao Tang; Chunhu Zhang; Tiejian Jiang; Deming Tan; Xuegong Fan; Xinping Sha; Jingdong Ma; Yan Huang; Shaling Li; Yixiang Zheng; Zhaoxin Qian; Zeng Xiong; Lizhi Xiao; Huibao Long; Jianghai Chen; Yi Ouyang

Next, to explore the potential role of the inflammatory response in the viral clearance and lung lesion resolution, the clinical details of a patient with the longest duration of viral shedding were examined. In this patient, his viral shedding occurred on day 35, and persistent viral shedding could be observed on days 45-51, indicating active virus replication. Meanwhile, an excess production of cytokine IL-6 was observed on day 36, with rapid progression to the peak stage on day 47. Importantly, extensive lung damage was observed on the chest CT on day 35, but lesions were steadily resolved on days 41-48, with significant improvement on day 56 ( Figure 2) . A similar pattern could also be observed in other patients ( Supplementary Figures 4 and 5) . Thus, days of viral shedding and IL-6 concentrations were significantly correlated with the lung lesion evolution on the chest CT in severe COVID-19 patients. It also suggested that patients with poor recovery were more likely to have a prolonged active phase of viral All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.