October 2020
Susta Cheriyedath, M.Sc.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections can have a variety of outcomes, from asymptomatic to mild symptoms and severe pathologies such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress that can potentially be fatal. This makes it very crucial that we identify the biomarkers that predict severe disease in the early stages of infection. Finding the biomarkers for predicting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes will help improve prognosis and treatment.
A team of researchers from various universities and institutes in Spain recently published a paper on the preprint server medRxiv,* in which they hypothesize that serum zinc levels have a significant influence on COVID-19 progression and thus may be a useful biomarker in predicting severe disease in early stages of COVID-19 infection.
