Relationship of Complete Blood Count Indices with Severity of COVID-19

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic. One of the important things that characterizes the disease is its unpredictable clinical course in which it can rapidly deteriorate from a moderate to severe or even lethal sequence. It can affect all body systems in addition to some psychological problems like suspicion, anxiety, and fear.  The role of hematological parameters and their relation with the disease severity, despite extensive studies, is not clear till now. The study aimed to illustrate the relation between alterations of some hematological parameters and the severity of COVID-19 infection.

Method: This cross-sectional study was performed in Merjan Medical City, Hilla, Iraq. The period of the study continued from September 2021 to April 2023, it included 243 COVID-19 patients (122 males and 121 females). Several blood parameters were measured that involved hemoglobin level, red blood cell count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, platelet count, and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio.

Results: The study included 243 patients with COVID-19, their mean age was 52.25±17.14. years. Regarding the severity, the most predominant cases were those with the severe level (144, 59.2%). Regarding the hemoglobin (Hb) level between groups, the study revealed a significant difference between critical and severe groups (p=0.02). Regarding white blood cell (WBC) count, there were significant differences between the critical group and all other groups (p value=0.03, 0.007, 0.02 respectively). In respect of platelet count, there were significant differences in platelet count between the critical patient group and the mild patient group (p value=0.04) and moderate patient groups (p values =0.03). Regarding

comparison of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) between critical patients and patients with mild, moderate, and severe groups, the study illustrated significant differences between all groups (p=0.00, 0.00 and 0.005 respectively).

Conclusions: This study revealed that Covid-19 had significant effects on platelet and white blood cell counts with no or slight effects on red blood cells and hemoglobin, and these effects were significantly associated with the severity of the disease.