Lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of patients
According to the results of each index, CD4+ T and
CD8+ T cells were divided into below the normal
values, within the normal value and above the normal values. The
corresponding quantities and proportions were respectively calculated
based on age, and the results were shown in Table 2.
Compared with mild pneumonia children, patients with severe pneumonia
had a higher count of CD8+ lymphocyte, while a lower
percentage of CD4+ lymphocyte was observed. However,
there were no significant differences in the percentage of
CD4+ and CD8+lymphocytes between the two groups
(p-value= 0.3 and p-value= 0.4, respectively) (Figure 1).
CD4+/CD8+T cell ratio and COVID-19
Severity
Interestingly, the severe group had a significantly lower
CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio compared to
the mild group (1.1 ± 0.47 vs. 1.4 ± 0.8, p value: 0.039) (Figure 1).
CD4+/CD8+ less than 2, 1.5, and 1
was found in 48 (87%), 40 (73%), and 19 cases (35%) , respectively.
The frequency of an inverted
CD4+/CD8+ ratio increased with age.
A ratio<1 was seen in 32% of patients less than 5 years (n=6)
and in 68% of 5- to 15-year-olds (n=13). Males were more likely to have
a decreased ratio than females (Table 3).
Among 7 cases who died, 100% had
CD4+/CD8+ ratio<2, 86%
had CD4+/CD8+ ratio<1.5,
and 29% had CD4+/CD8+ratio<1.