Finding the signals to quickly identify patients at risk of severe disease in COVID-19 Lead Researchers: Dr. Ignacio Martin-Loeches, Trinity College Dublin Funded by: Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland Funding amount: €192,566 In Summary When someone is infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, it can sometimes result in severe illness. Being able to tell quickly who is at risk of becoming very sick with the virus would mean that those patients could be quickly prioritised for treatment. A study led by Trinity College Dublin will analyse samples from patients infected with the COVID-19 virus and measure aspects of their immune responses. By comparing these responses to the level of illness that the patients develop, the researchers will identify immune ‘signatures’ in patients that could signal a higher risk of becoming very sick with COVID-19. The project will also help us to better understand how our immune systems respond to the virus and will thereby inform potentially better ways to treat the disease and develop strategies for immunity. The Problem Some patients become very sick when they infected with the COVID-19 virus, and this can lead to severe injury to the body and death. We don’t know how to identify these patients early so they can get the appropriate level of medical attention quickly. We also don’t know how their immune response is involved in more severe illness. The Project The project, led by Trinity College Dublin, will look at various molecular signals and antibodies in samples from patients who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, and see how those molecular signals relate to the severity of disease and symptoms that the patients have. This will allow them to identify the early molecular signals associated with more severe symptoms, and to see if there is a link between symptoms and the levels of antibody a person produces to the virus. The Outcomes By understanding more about how the immune system responds to in infection with the COVID-19 virus, we will know more about how that response could cause more severe symptoms and this will help inform ways to intervene By figuring out the early molecular markers that suggest a patient is at high risk of developing severe disease in COVID0-19, clinicians should be able to quickly identify atrisk patients while they are in the early stages of infection prioritise them for more intensive medical care. This will help to reduce the numbers of patients experiencing severe forms of the disease Getting better picture of the antibodies that patients with differing levels of disease produce will help to inform strategies to build immunity in the population at large.
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