Newly-developed blood test could predict severity of COVID-19 infections

Coronavirus blood test.
(Image credit: SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists have developed a blood test that could help doctors predict whether a COVID-19 patient may need intensive care shortly after they develop symptoms, reports The Guardian. It may even predict how likely they are to survive the infection.

The team of scientists initially identified 27 proteins in the blood of COVID-19 patients that were present at different levels depending on symptom severity, and since then they've followed 160 patients who had their blood tested to determine if their protein signature could predict the progression of their illness. If the hypothesis is validated in hospital settings in the coming weeks, the test could be crucial in helping doctors choose whether to provide life-saving treatment in the earlier stages of infection. The coronavirus has proven particularly challenging because some patients will sometimes report feeling relatively well and then rapidly deteriorate, so the blood test could potentially help catch those cases, The Guardian notes.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.