Unresolved Immune Dysfunction is Lethal in Both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 Sepsis

In this prospective observational cohort study, we found transcriptional evidence that persistent immune dysfunction was associated with 28-day mortality in both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 septic patients. COVID-19 patients had an early antiviral response but became indistinguishable on a gene expression level from non-COVID-19 sepsis patients a week later. Early treatment of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 sepsis ICU patients should focus on pathogen control, but both patient groups also require novel immunomodulatory treatments, particularly later during ICU hospitalization, independent of admission diagnosis. Some T1 samples were uploaded in GSE185263 and were not re-uploaded in this series. Overall design: Gene expression trajectories were compared between 20 severe COVID-19 patients and 22 contemporaneous non-COVID-19 sepsis patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Whole blood was collected at two timepoints: ICU admission and ~1 week later.