Clinical Characteristics and Blood Test Results in COVID-19 Patients

An outbreak of pneumonia named COVID-19 caused by a novel coronavirus in Wuhan is rapidly spreading worldwide. The objective of the present study was to clarify further the clinical characteristics and blood parameters in COVID-19 patients.

Twenty-three suspected patients and 64 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection were admitted to a designated hospital. Epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data were collected and analyzed.

Of the 64 patients studied, 47 (73.4%) had been exposed to a confirmed source of COVID-19 transmission. On admission, the most common symptoms were fever (75%) and cough (76.6%). Twenty-eight (43.8%) COVID-19 patients showed leukopenia, 10 (15.6%) showed lymphopenia, 47 (73.4%) and 41 (64.1%) had elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), respectively, and 30 (46.9%) had increased fibrinogen concentration. After the treatment, the counts of white blood cells and platelets, and the level of prealbumin increased significantly, while aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and hsCRP decreased. COVID-19 patients with the hospital stay longer than 12 days had higher body mass index (BMI) and increased levels of AST, LDH, fibrinogen, hsCRP, and ESR.

Results of blood tests have potential clinical value in COVID-19 patients.