COVID-19 Infection Severity and Outcomes

Severity of infection was defined according to the WHO classification available at the time of enrolment [24 ]. The use of corticosteroids within the previous 30 days included therapy with prednisone or its equivalent at a dose > 0.5 mg/kg/day for at least 1 month. Prior infection and antibiotic therapy were defined as a diagnosis of infection and/or the receival of antibiotics in the 30 days prior to hospital admission, respectively. Status of haematological malignancy was defined as new diagnosis, remission, refractory/relapsing disease or yet to define, according to the guidelines of European Society for Medical Oncology [25 ]. Active malignancy was defined as patients with new diagnosis or refractory/relapsing disease [25 ]. Prior active treatment included the receival of chemotherapy or immunotherapy, or both, in the previous 90 days. Immunotherapy included the receival of monoclonal antibodies (rituximab, daratumumab and obinutuzumab) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (imatinib, ibrutinib, ruxolitinib and venetoclax). Worsening of respiratory conditions was based on the change of PaO₂/FiO₂ and was defined as: (i) need of supplementary oxygen therapy or (ii) need of increasing oxygen therapy supplementation in a patient with SARS-CoV2 infection for reasons directly related to the infection, as it was already reported [8 (link)].
Time of viral shedding was defined as the number of days from the first viral detection by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal specimen until the first negative result.
The study was approved by the local ethics committee (ID Prot. 109/2020).