Short Report – Medical nutrition therapy for critically ill patients with COVID-19

We read with great interest the paper from Kaiying and Hanping on nutrition patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in which the authors report evidence issued by the Chinese Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (CSPEN) of the Chinese Medical Association. The COVID-19 is new β-coronavirus, that can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure, multiple organ failure and death (~10%) and represents a global health challenge2,3. Medical nutritional therapy is among the mainstay of therapeutic principles and one of the core contents of comprehensive treatment measures for patients with COVID-19. Based on available clinical observations, it is evident that despite people of all ages can become infected, malnourished elderly people, with low immunity and patients with chronic diseases have a worse prognosis and have a higher mortality rates4. This phenomenon highlights the importance of nutritional status and the relevance of nutritional therapy that should be regarded as first-line treatment and implemented into standard of practice. Good nutrition not only provides the body with immunity to diseases, including COVID-19, but is also the primary guarantee for promoting disease recovery4 .