A preliminary study on the joint parameter Lym% and HGB for the prediction of severe and nonsevere COVID-19 (preprint)

Objectives The aim of this study was to identify the parameters in routine blood tests that can be used to evaluate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and thus assist in clinically predicting the extent of progression.Methods This study retrospectively analyzed the epidemiological, clinical symptom and laboratory examination data of 159 COVID-19 patients. The percentage of lymphocytes (Lym%) and hemoglobin (HGB) were integrated into a joint parameter, Lym%&HGB, by binary logistic regression.Results Both Lym% and HGB gradually decreased with disease progression whereas the joint parameter Lym%&HGB increased gradually with disease progression. When using Lym%, HGB, and Lym%&HGB to predict COVID-19 severity, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was 0.89, 0.79, and 0.92, respectively. The dynamic change curves showed that Lym% and HGB continued to decline while Lym%&HGB continued to increase with disease progression in patients with severe COVID. The change in Lym%&HGB was more prominent than the changes in Lym% and HBG.Conclusions The joint parameter Lym%&HGB can serve as a good tool to differentiate severe and nonsevere COVID-19, and it has a higher sensitivity and specificity than either Lym% or HGB alone.

COVID-19: what has been learned and to be learned about the novel coronavirus disease.

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has thus far killed over 3,000 people and infected over 80,000 in China and elsewhere in the world, resulting in catastrophe for humans. Similar to its homologous virus, SARS-CoV, which caused SARS in thousands of people in 2003, SARS-CoV-2 might also be transmitted from the bats and causes similar symptoms through a similar mechanism. However, COVID-19 has lower severity and mortality than SARS but is much more transmissive and affects more elderly individuals than youth and more men than women. In response to the rapidly increasing number of publications on the emerging disease, this article attempts to provide a timely and comprehensive review of the swiftly developing research subject. We will cover the basics about the epidemiology, etiology, virology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention of the disease. Although many questions still require answers, we hope that this review helps in the understanding and eradication of the threatening disease.