Fig. 8: Survival curves and respiratory status for the study cohort.

Survival curves for (a) hospitalized and (b) ICU-COVID-19 patients who received corticosteroids, tocilizumab, azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, or antivirals (remdesivir or lopinavir–ritonavir) following their SARS-CoV-2-positive PCR test. c Survival curves for each corticosteroid administered patient who is hospitalized, split up by the exact corticosteroid drug. d Survival curves for each corticosteroid administered patient who is in the ICU, split up by the exact corticosteroid drug, i.e., dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, methylprednisolone, or prednisone. e Bar plot of COVID-19 patient respiratory status at first IL-6 lab draw, showing that ICU patients who receive IL-6 testing are typically initially tested early in the course of respiratory failure (panel A), (f) yet spend a long time in critical respiratory failure, indicating that physicians may be using IL-6 as part of their assessment of patients who are rapidly progressing towards critical respiratory failure. Here, RA indicates that the patient is breathing room air. The nasal cannula includes all nasal cannula with oxygen flow rates up to 15 L/min. Mask/HiFlowO₂ includes devices designed to increase the percentage of oxygen inspired with each breath, such as a non-rebreather, Oxymizer, OxyMask, high flow nasal cannula, etc. NPPV includes all forms of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation, such as CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure), and oxygen-supplemented CPAP/BiPAP. Invasive ventilation includes intubation and mechanical ventilation. g Across every respiratory status, COVID-19 patients who received corticosteroids generally are worse from a respiratory standpoint than patients who did not receive corticosteroids.