Clinical and immunological characteristics of prolonged SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in hematologic disease
Daisuke Ikeda, Ami Fukumoto, Yuka Uesugi, Rikako Tabata, Daisuke Miura, Kentaro Narita, Masami Takeuchi, Tomohisa Watari, Yoshihito Otsuka, Kosei Matsue
Abstract
Prolonged viral shedding (PVS) results from a failure of viral eradication. Before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, PVS was reported mainly in patients with hematologic disease (HD), posing significant concerns regarding patient outcomes and public health [ 1 , 2 ]. Lee et al. showed that 13.9% (51/368) of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed PVS, and among the evaluable cases with persistent infection, 26.3% (5/19) died [ 2 ]. Moreover, they showed that the combined depletion of B and CD4 + T-cells played a dominant role in viral persistence. Nevertheless, although several studies have reported the incidence of PVS [ 3 , 4 ], knowledge integrating the clinical and immunological characteristics of PVS in the Omicron era is limited. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for Omicron PVS and to profile the associated immune deficits in a cohort with HD.