Increased circulating level of interleukin-6 and CD8

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is pandemic. It is critical to identify COVID-19 patients who are most likely to develop a severe disease. This study was designed to determine the clinical and epidemiological features of COVID-19 patients associated with the development of pneumonia and factors associated with disease progression. Methods Seventy consecutive patients with etiologically confirmed COVID-19 admitted to PLA General Hospital in Beijing, China from December 27, 2019 to March 12, 2020 were enrolled in this study and followed-up to March 16, 2020. Differences in clinical and laboratory findings between COVID-19 patients with pneumonia and those without were determined by the χ2 test or the Fisher exact test (categorical variables) and independent group t test or Mann–Whitney U test (continuous variables). The Cox proportional hazard model and Generalized Estimating Equations were applied to evaluate factors that predicted the progression of COVID-19. Results The mean incubation was 8.67 (95% confidence interval, 6.78–10.56) days. Mean duration from the first test severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-positive to conversion was 11.38 (9.86–12.90) days. Compared to pneumonia-free patients, pneumonia patients were 16.5 years older and had higher frequencies of having hypertension, fever, and cough and higher circulating levels of neutrophil proportion, interleukin-6, low count (