RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND BACTERIAL INFECTIONS AMONG COVID-19 PATIENTS

Fifty blood samples were collected from patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 by conducting a diagnostic test using real-time RT-PCR for the direct qualitative detection of the Coronavirus when the patients attended the private clinics at Al Rabeea Private Hospital in Mosul for the period from the beginning of March to the end of May 2021. The patients' ages range from17-59 years, with 23 males (46%), and 27 females (54%). The blood samples were taken before giving any type of treatment for blood culture, biochemical, and immunological tests. Bacteremia is investigated to determine the types of bacteria that cause bacteremia, biochemical tests such as D-dimer, S. Ferritin, CRP, Protein S, Protein C, FBS, LDH, Blood Urea, Serum Creatinine, SGOT & SGPT, and immunological tests such as blood group, IgG & IgM, IL-1B, IL-6, TNF-α alpha, ASOT, ESR, C3, and C4. In this study, the relationship between bacteremia and the types of biomarkers used is determined in addition to the relationship of bacteremia to the patient's age, sex, SPO2, and body temperature. More accurate comparison is also accomplished in cases of bacteremia by adopting the types of bacteria isolated if they were gram-positive or gram-negative. The results of this study show an increase in the severity of COVID-19 disease caused by a secondary bacterial infection. This is determined by measuring several biomarkers used in this study and also by performing bacteriological tests to document bacteremia by blood culture. Also, these results can be adopted in future studies concentrating on the molecular level to determine the genetic changes associated with viral infection with or without secondary bacterial infection to develop an effective treatment protocol.