COVID-19 patients have a sustained, elevated Effectors T
cells and Effector Memory T cells population
The environment established by an infection, both locally and
systemically, can cause changes in general memory T cell populations
[10]. We looked at how COVID-19 affected naive, effector, and memory
CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Over time, distinct variations in the CD4+ and
CD8+ T populations of COVID-19 patients were detected (Table 3). The
fraction of CD4+ naive T cells and CD4+ central memory cells decreased
significantly with time when compared to the time of enrolment (Figure
2A & 2C). At 6-7 months after discharge from hospital, there was a
considerable increase in the CD4+ effector and CD4+ effector memory T
cell fractions compared to results obtained at the time of
hospitalization (Figure 2B & 2D).