Eosinophil Count - A New Indicator of the Severity and Prognosis of COVID-19 Patients: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Background: In December 2019, COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. By 8 July 2020, the cumulative number of infected people worldwide had exceeded 11.50 million. It has been reported that a variety of indicators, including lymphocytes, can predict the progression of COVID-19 disease, but the clinical application value of eosinophils has not received widespread attention. It’s specific changes in the course of the disease, as well as the relationship with severity and prognosis of COVID-19 patients, need to be further studied.Method: In this multicenter, retrospective study, we collected data on laboratory-confirmed 482 COVID-19 patients from three hospitals in Wuhan, China, who died or were discharged between February 1, 2020, and February 20, 2020. By collecting the clinical data and laboratory examination results of the patients, we analyzed the changes of eosinophil and lymphocyte count in patients with different severity and outcomes, so as to study their relationship with the severity and prognosis, to compare the diagnostic effects of lymphocytes and eosinophils on severe COVID-2019 patients.Result: A total of 482 patients were enrolled in this study. Of those, 39.0% were severe patients and 13.3% were nonsurvivors. All the nonsurvivors were from the severe group. The count of eosinophil remained relatively lower levels during hospitalization in the severe and nonsurvival groups compared with the nonsevere and survival groups (all P Conclusion: Eosinophil and lymphocyte count remained relatively lower levels during hospitalization in the severe and nonsurvival COVID-19 patients, and patients with eosinophil decline had higher rates of severity and fatality. Eosinophils = 0.00×10⁹/L and lymphocytes ≤0.72×10⁹/L had the similar efficacy to diagnosis the severe COVID-19 patients. Compared with lymphocytes, eosinophils could also be used to diagnose severe COVID-19 patients and predict prognosis.Funding Statement: This study is funded by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (81974383 and 81772607 to W.Y.;81770554 and 81570501 to Y.F.)Declaration of Interests: None.Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Commission of Wuhan Tongji Hospital, Union Hospital, and Jin Yin-tan Hospital, and written informed consent was waived.