Table 1.
Clinical and biological characteristics of the 158 patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection at the time of their intensive care unit admission according to the infecting SARS-CoV-2 “sublineage groups” (BA.2 vs BA.4/BA.5 vs BQ.1.1 group)
| Data available | All patients | BA.2 | BA.4/BA.5 | BQ.1.1 group | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 158 | N = 50 | N = 61 | N = 47 | |||
| Demographics and comorbidities | ||||||
| Sex, females | 158 | 50 (31.6) | 13 (26.0) | 19 (31.1) | 18 (38.3) | 0.426 |
| Age, years | 158 | 67.4 (± 13.9) | 65.1 (± 13.2) | 68.3 (± 10.8) | 68.7 (± 14.1) | 0.364 |
| Diabetes | 158 | 53 (34.4) | 19 (38.0) | 21 (36.2) | 13 (28.3) | 0.566 |
| Obesity | 158 | 41 (26.1) | 8 (16.3) | 15 (24.6) | 18 (38.3) | 0.047 |
| Chronic heart failure | 158 | 18 (11.7) | 2 (4.0) | 8 (13.8) | 8 (17.4) | 0.079 |
| Hypertension | 158 | 94 (61.0) | 29 (58.0) | 35 (60.3) | 30 (65.2) | 0.762 |
| Chronic respiratory failurea | 158 | 37 (24.2) | 13 (26.0) | 15 (25.9) | 9 (20.0) | 0.738 |
| Chronic renal failureb | 158 | 33 (21.4) | 12 (24.0) | 15 (25.9%) | 6 (13.0) | 0.247 |
| Cirrhosis | 158 | 3 (1.9) | 1 (2.0) | 2 (3.4) | 0 (0) | 0.777 |
| Immunosuppression | 158 | 63 (40.9) | 28 (56.0) | 23 (39.7) | 12 (26.1) | 0.012 |
| Immunosuppression | ||||||
| None | 91 (59.1) | 22 (44.0) | 35 (60.3) | 34 (73.9) | < 0.0001 | |
| Solid organ transplant | 20 (13.0) | 9 (18.0) | 9 (15.5) | 2 (4.3) | ||
| Onco-hematological malignancies | 20 (13.0) | 7 (14.0) | 7 (12.1) | 6 (13.0) | ||
| Othersc | 23 (14.9) | 12 (24.0) | 7 (12.1) | 4 (8.7) | ||
| Number of comorbiditiesd | 158 | 2 (1;3) | 2 (1;3) | 2 (1;3) | 2 (1;3) | 0.694 |
| Clinical frailty scale | 156 | 3 (3;4) | 4 (3;4) | 3 (3;4) | 3 (3;5) | 0.751 |
| SARS-CoV-2 infection and Vaccination | ||||||
| Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection | 158 | 8 (5.2) | 3 (6.0) | 4 (6.9) | 1 (2.2) | 0.598 |
| SARS-CoV-2 vaccination | 158 | 116 (75.8) | 42 (84.0) | 43 (74.1) | 31 (68.9) | 0.213 |
| Number of doses among vaccinated | 111 | 3 (3;3) | 3 (3;3) | 3 (3;3) | 3 (3;4) | 0.452 |
| 3rd dose- ICU admissione, days | 15 | 190 (163;265) | 153 (132;181) | 231 (200;265) | 307 (190;528) | 0.013 |
| Last dose—ICU admissione, days | 25 | 182 (132;254) | 153 (101;181) | 200 (86;265) | 257 (190;508) | 0.157 |
| SARS-CoV-2 serology at ICU admission | ||||||
| Unavailable | 158 | 80 (50.6) | 18 (31.53%) | 41 (67.2) | 21 (44.7) | 0.008 |
| Negativef | 158 | 22 (13.9) | 8 (38.74%) | 8 (13.1) | 6 (12.8) | |
| Positive | 158 | 56 (35.4) | 24 (29.73%) | 12 (19.7) | 20 (42.6) | |
| First symptoms—ICU admission, days | 158 | 5 (2;10) | 7 (3;13) | 4 (2;9) | 3 (1;7) | 0.013 |
| SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in nasopharyngeal swabs, Ct | 114 | 20 (16;24) | 21 (18;26) | 20 (16;23) | 19 (15;23) | 0.123 |
| Patients severity upon ICU admission and biological features | ||||||
| WHO 10-point scale | 157 | 6 (6;6) | 6 (6;6) | 6 (5;6) | 6 (6;7) | 0.598 |
| SAPS II score | 153 | 35 (28;45) | 35 (30;43) | 37 (30;47) | 33 (27;46) | 0.460 |
| SOFA score | 153 | 4 (3;7) | 5 (3;7) | 4 (3;7) | 4 (3;7) | 0.801 |
| PaO2/FiO2 ratio, mmHg | 154 | 150 (98;233) | 158 (110;214) | 150 (98;257) | 140 (97;217) | 0.856 |
| ARDS criteria | 154 | 110 (71.4) | 37 (75.5) | 41 (69.9) | 62 (69.6) | 0.791 |
| Arterial lactate level, mM | 154 | 1.6 (1.0;2.4) | 1.5 (1.0;2.1) | 1.5 (1.0;2.4) | 1.8 (1.1;3.0) | 0381 |
| Blood leukocytes, G/L | 156 | 9.9 (6.4;13.3) | 9.8 (5.5;13.3) | 8.6 (6.7;13.0) | 10.2 (6.3;13.4) | 0.187 |
| Blood lymphocytes, G/L | 124 | 0.5 (0.3;0.8) | 0.5 (0.2;0.8) | 0.4 (0.3;0.7) | 0.6 (0.3;1.0) | 0.491 |
| Blood platelets, G/L | 156 | 185 (133;262) | 165 (111;249) | 195 (140;266) | 198 (135;278) | 0.183 |
| Serum urea level, mM | 157 | 9 (6;15) | 10 (6;15) | 9 (6;18) | 8 (6;13) | 0.118 |
| Serum creatinine level, µM | 157 | 101 (71;164) | 100 (71;154) | 129 (76;222) | 92 (69;137) | 0.217 |
| Bacterial coinfection | 158 | 35 (22.3) | 12 (24.0) | 10 (16.7) | 13 (27.7) | 0.375 |
| Thoracic CT-scan | 157 | 87 (55.4) | 30 (60.0) | 29 (48.3) | 28 (59.6) | 0.373 |
| Pulmonary embolism | 156 | 5 (5.7) | 1 (3.3) | 2 (6.7) | 2 (7.4) | 0.685 |
| Lung parenchyma involvement, % | 55 | 40 (25;75) | 75 (40;75) | 35 (25;51) | 40 (25;62) | 0.063 |
| Oxygen/ventilatory support | ||||||
| Oxygen | 158 | 35 (22.6) | 7 (14.0) | 16 (27.1) | 12 (26.1) | 0.584 |
| High flow oxygen | 158 | 62 (40.0) | 25 (50.0) | 22 (37.3) | 15 (32.6) | |
| NIV/C-PAP | 158 | 19 (12.3) | 6 (12.0) | 7 (11.9) | 6 (13.0) | |
| Invasive MV | 158 | 39 (25.2) | 12 (24.0) | 14 (23.7) | 13 (28.3) | |
| ECMO support | 158 | 1 (0.6) | 1 (2.0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.618 |
| Vasopressor support | 158 | 28 (17.8) | 8 (16.0) | 10 (16.7) | 10 (21.3) | 0.780 |
Results are N(%), means (± standard deviation) or medians (interquartile range). arequiring long-term oxygen treatment; bdefined as glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 cincludes HIV infection, long-term corticosteroid treatment, and other immunosuppressive treatments; dinclude diabetes, obesity, chronic heart, renal and respiratory failure, hypertension, cirrhosis, and immunosuppression; etime lag between the last vaccination dose and ICU admission; fdefined as < 30 Binding Antibody Units (BAU)/mL; ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome; ICU: intensive care unit; Ct: cycle threshold; WHO: World Health Organization; SOFA: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment; SAPS II: Simplified Acute Physiology Score II; NIV: non-invasive ventilation; C-PAP; continuous-positive airway pressure; MV: mechanical ventilation; ECMO: extracorporeal mechanical ventilation; Two-tailed p-values come from unadjusted comparisons using Chi square or Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables, and t-tests or Mann–Whitney tests for continuous variables, as appropriate. No adjustment for multiple comparisons was performed; Bolded p-values are significant at the p < 0.05 level