Impact of COVID-19 on 75 Immunocompromised Patients: Does Immunosuppression Alter the Clinical Course?

Article Type Original Research Authors Sara Abolghasemi, MD1 Shanaz Sali, MD1 Davood Yadegarynia, MD1 Reza Ghasemi, MD2 Neda Khabiri,MD1 Hamideh Moradi, MD1 Seyyed Saeed Khabiri, MD3 Shabnam Tehrani, MD1* How to cite this article Abolghasemi S. , Sali S. , Yadegarynia D. , Ghasemi R. , Khabiri R. , Moradi H. , Khabiri S.S. , Tehrani S. Impact of COVID-19 on 75 Immunocompromised Patients: Does Immunosuppression Alter the Clinical Course? Infection Epidemiology and Microbiology. 2021;7(2): 129-140 1Infectious diseases and tropical medicine research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran 3Taleghani and Imam Ali hospitals clinical research development center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran * Correspondence Address: Infectious diseases and tropical medicine research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Tehrani.shabnam89@yahoo.com Article History Received: January 2021 Accepted: Aoril 15 ,2021 Published: May 20 ,2021 Backgrounds: Currently, clinical details of immunosuppressed patients suffering from COVID-19 are limited. Some studies have shown no more severe diseases among them, but others have highlighted that immunosuppressed patients may have high levels of viral load and impaired immune responses. Herein, this study aimed to specifically address the symptoms, prognosis, laboratory tests, clinical course, and the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infected immunocompromised patients at a tertiary referral center. Materials & Methods: Clinical and laboratory information of 75 non-congenital immunosuppressed patients with COVID-19 disease was obtained at a referral center for immunodeficiency diseases and infectious disorders in Tehran, Iran. Three groups of immunocompromised patients were evaluated, including patients with a history of organ transplantation, autoimmune patients receiving medical therapy, and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Findings: Among 75 immune-deficient patients with COVID-19, there were 32 patients with a kidney transplant, 23 patients with malignancies, and 19 patients with autoimmune disorders. One patient had both malignancy and multiple sclerosis. The mean length of hospitalization was 10.82 days. By the end of the study, 24 (32%) patients were dead, and 51 (68%) patients were discharged. Dyspnea was the most common (64%) symptom. Low levels of O2 saturation and lymphopenia at admission time significantly affected the mortality rate of patients. Conclusion: This study showed that mortality rate among immunocompromised patients was 32%. It seems that COVID-19 has a worse outcome and a more severe clinical course in immunocompromised patients regardless of age, gender, and underlying diseases. Copyright© 2021, TMU Press. This open-access article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License which permits Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and Adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) under the Attribution-NonCommercial terms. 1029252/iem.7. 2.129