• Posted January 29, 2024

Study Looks at COVID Threat to Folks With Weakened Immune Systems

It's long been known that people with immune deficiencies are at increased risk for severe COVID.

But a new study shows the threat varies dramatically based on how severe that immune suppression is and the reason behind it, researchers report in the Jan. 24 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.

People suffering immune compromise due to a blood cancer or an organ transplant were most likely to have a prolonged bout of severe COVID, researchers found.

On the other hand, patients with mild immune compromise -- such as those with an autoimmune disease taking anti-inflammatory anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) drugs -- tended to have COVID experiences similar to people with normal immune systems.

Meanwhile, patients with immune compromise from deficient B-cell levels had a moderate risk of severe COVID. B-cells protect people from infection by producing antibodies.

“While our sample size is limited, these results provide reassurance that most patients with mild/moderate immunosuppression will be able to clear the virus during the acute phase of infection,” said researcher Dr. Jonathan Li, an infectious disease doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

For the study, Li and colleagues studied a group of 56 immunocompromised patients, comparing them to each other as well as patients without any immune compromise.

Researchers also found that patients with severe immune compromise had a higher risk of developing resistance against COVID-fighting monoclonal antibodies.

“Providers and patients should be aware that protracted symptoms may mean persistent COVID-19 disease that requires additional testing and potential treatment,” Li said in a hospital news release.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID and the immune-compromised.

SOURCE: Mass General Brigham, news release, Jan. 24, 2024