By Lynn Allison From Newmax

A readily available test can predict which patients may suffer from severe illness related to COVID-19 and which ones stand a good chance for recovery.

Swedish researchers found that patients with measurable levels of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in their blood were seven times more likely to develop critical symptoms and eight times more likely to die within 28 days.

According to Science Magazine, those with no measurable levels of the virus in their blood samples had a much smoother road to recovery and fewer fatalities than those with measurable levels. The authors of the new study said that the presence of the virus increased for those over the age of 60.

“This readily available test allows us to identify patient groups at high or low risk of severe COVID-19, which enables us to better guide the treatment and monitoring of these patients,” said Karl Hagman, who led the study. Hagman is an infectious disease consultant at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

According to Science Daily, the researchers analyzed the presence of viral DNA in the blood of 167 patients within three days of admission to the hospital using a standard technique called PCR. The study was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

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