Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) claimed over 4 million lives by July 2021 and continues to pose a serious public health threat. Objectives Our retrospective study utilized respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) results in patients with SARS-CoV-2 to determine if coinfection (i.e. SARS-CoV-2 positivity with an additional respiratory virus) was associated with more severe presentation and outcomes. Methods All patients with negative influenza/respiratory syncytial virus testing who underwent RPP testing within 7 days of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test at a large, academic medical centre in New York were examined. Patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 with a negative RPP were compared with patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 and positive for a virus by RPP in terms of biomarkers, oxygen requirements and severe COVID-19 outcome, as defined by mechanical ventilation or death within 30 days. Results Of the 306 SARS-CoV-2-positive patients with RPP testing, 14 (4.6%) were positive for a non-influenza virus (coinfected). Compared with the coinfected group, patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 with a negative RPP had higher inflammatory markers and were significantly more likely to be admitted (P = 0.01). Severe COVID-19 outcome occurred in 111 (36.3%) patients in the SARS-CoV-2-only group and 3 (21.4%) patients in the coinfected group (P = 0.24). Conclusions Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 along with a non-influenza respiratory virus had less severe disease on presentation and were more likely to be admitted—but did not have more severe outcomes—than those infected with SARS-CoV-2 alone.

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has a variable clinical course with significant mortality. Early reports suggested higher rates of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in patients with type A blood and enrichment of type A individuals among COVID‐19 mortalities. Study Design and Methods The study includes all patients hospitalized or with an emergency department (ED) visit who were tested for SARS‐CoV‐2 between March 10, 2020 and June 8, 2020 and had a positive test result by nucleic acid test (NAT) performed on a nasopharyngeal swab specimen. A total of 4968 patients met the study inclusion criteria, with a subsequent 23.1% (n = 1146/4968) all‐cause mortality rate in the study cohort. To estimate overall risk by ABO type and account for the competing risks of in‐hospital mortality and discharge, we calculated the cumulative incidence function (CIF) for each event. Cause‐specific hazard ratios (csHRs) for in‐hospital mortality and discharge were analyzed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results Type A blood was associated with the increased cause‐specific hazard of death among COVID‐19 patients compared to type O (HR = 1.17, 1.02–1.33, p = .02) and type B (HR = 1.32,1.10–1.58, p = .003). Conclusions Our study shows that ABO histo‐blood group type is associated with the risk of in‐hospital death in COVID‐19 patients, warranting additional inquiry. Elucidating the mechanism behind this association may reveal insights into the susceptibility and/or immunity to SARS‐CoV‐2.

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