In a study of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China, researchers found that T-cell counts were significantly reduced in patients with COVID-19 and surviving T-cells seemed to be functionally exhausted as well.1
These findings, published in Frontiers in Immunology, suggested that patients with COVID-19 who do not require intensive care unit (ICU) admission with total T-cell counts lower than 800/μL may still require urgent intervention, even in the immediate absence of more severe symptoms due to a high risk for further deterioration in condition.
“We should pay more attention to T-cell counts and their function, rather than respiratory function of patients,” study author Yongwen Chen, PhD, of the Third Military Medical University in China, said in a press release,2 adding that “more urgent, early intervention may be required in patients with low T lymphocyte…
