In a new study, published in Nature Medicine, researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, have found a common immune signature in the blood of patients with COVID-19, which could be used to predict how severely ill a patient will become, thereby aiding patient management.

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The team analyzed blood samples from 63 patients with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, who were treated at Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital, London. Among several molecules expressed at atypical levels in the blood of patients, the researchers identified three in particular that could indicate how the disease will progresswhat the researchers are calling the "triad," made up of IP-10, interleukin-10 and interleukin-6.

Patients with COVID-19 who displayed measurably higher levels of these molecules when first admitted to hospital went on to become more severely ill. The triad was found to be a rigorous predictor of disease severity than commonly-used clinical indicators, including C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer or ferritin.