Hematological and inflammatory parameters in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection in Chattogram, Bangladesh

COVID-19 emerged as a pandemic that is persisting with massive casualties around the globe. To ensure clinical management, changes in hematological parameters are routinely monitored and considered essential in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to measure the disease prognosis. This study aimed to recognize alterations in patients' hematological and inflammatory parameters with COVID-19. We obtained and analyzed data from 170 COVID-19 positive patients and 78 COVID-19 negative patients confirmed by qRT-PCR. The laboratory data included the hematological and inflammatory parameters of the selected patients. Compared with COVID-19 negative groups, COVID-19 patients had significantly higher levels of hematocrit (HCT) (p<0.01), mean platelets volume (MPV) (p<0.01), neutrophils (p<0.01), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (p<0.0001), C-Reactive Protein (CRP) (p<0.0001), and significantly lower levels of Hemoglobin (Hb) (p<0.0001), lymphocytes (p<0.0001), monocytes (p<0.0001), eosinophils (p<0.01), basophils (p<0.05). This study also observed significantly increased levels of Hb, HCT, RBC, MCH, MCHC, monocytes, ferritin, and significantly decreased RDW-CV, platelets count, ESR in the COVID-19 male patients than the COVID-19 female patients. This study suggests that hematological and inflammatory parameters should be considered in the clinical management of COVID-19 patients.