I would not discontinue my TKI treatment if I contracted Covid. TKI's impact the myeloid arm of blood differentiation. Virus' are attacked by the lymphoid arm which produces T-cells and is largely unaffected by TKI's. Stopping treatment does nothing one way or another in affecting the course of Covid.
What will affect the course of Covid are various co-morbidities such as diabetes (metabolic health), obesity (lung function) and a few genetic markers such as blood type) which predisposes a person to higher risk of severity (including low vitamin D status). One factor affecting Covid susceptibility and especially severity is T-cell activation. People whose T-cells are not functioning properly - or worse, T-cells not "allowed" to function are at greater risk of Covid severity. Vitamin D is necessary to activate T-cells and also to keep them from over-acting (cytokine inflammation leading to Covid induced hypoxia) once the virus is under control.
The single most important test you can have is a vitamin D test so you KNOW your vitamin D blood level and supplement to raise it, ideally above 50 ng/ml (but kept below 100 ng/ml). As was pointed out elsewhere on this forum - be mindful of the vitamin D unit of measure: nanograms per mililiter (vs nmol/liter). Low vitamin D status practically invites a Covid infection.
And despite all of this, 99.9% of people who get Covid regardless, survive. Covid is a respiratory virus similar in genetics to the flu. The vaccines will help, but permanent immunity is not likely. Covid is going to be around and rear its head from time to time the way other various strains of flu do. Your best defense is a healthy immune system. Surprisingly, TKI treatment can lead CML patients to a much stronger immune system once CML is under control (FISH < 1%)*.
Washing your hands every time you return home, Keep a distance from sneezing, and coughing people and not touching your eyes until your hands are clean will do more to minimize your chance at getting Covid than anything else. Masks are largely ineffective studies have shown. And this is because people are touching them all of the time and they are not of the N95 surgical variety AND worn only once.
For those who have loved ones who have died from Covid, it doesn't matter that the vast majority of people survive with minimal symptoms.. But then again, so is the flu deadly. Flu is quite dangerous for older people (and young people too in some cases!). Covid needs to be put in perspective. It will take awhile as vaccination, awareness and herd immunity spreads.
(*When CML is first brought under control by a TKI, a person's normal immune system prior has been greatly impaired by CML expansion. Once CML is mostly eliminated, it forces normal blood making and immune system restoration to flourish once again. A person following successful TKI treatment essentially has a new young, healthy immune system re-created from normal blood stem cells. This is one outcome of TKI treatment when TKI treatment is effective.)
