Test predicts which COVID-19 patients will grow worse, Stanford Medicine study find
Elevated virus levels in hospitalized COVID-19 patients' blood predicts worsening respiratory symptoms and suggests ongoing viral replication in later disease stages, Stanford Medicine-led study says. - By Krista Conger A one-time test could predict which people hospitalized with COVID-19 are likely to worsen significantly during their stay, even if they were admitted with relatively mild symptoms, according to a study of more than 2,500 people headed by researchers at Stanford Medicine.
The test measures patient blood levels of a protein on the virus that causes COVID-19. High levels of the protein correlated strongly with an increased need for respiratory support five days later, regardless of the patient’s disease severity when the test was conducted, the researchers found. People whose levels were high were also likely to be hospitalized significantly longer than those with lower levels.