Significance of Serum C-Reactive Protein in Assessing the Severity of Covid Illness Among Vaccinated and Non-Vaccinated Individuals

Abstract

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein produced by the liver. CRP levels in the blood, rises when there is an inflammatory condition in the body. A CRP test determines the amount of CRP in the blood to detect inflammation caused by acute conditions or to monitor disease severity in chronic conditions. Covid – 19 is an inflammatory condition, and an increase in CRP level helps in assessing the severity of covid illness. Our aim is to compare the severity of covid illness between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals by estimating the CRP level. This is a cross-sectional study that included 100 Covid positive patients who were clinically diagnosed with fever at Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital and were randomly selected (both vaccinated and unvaccinated) for the study. The level of serum C-Reactive Protein was estimated in all covid positive patients using the latex agglutination method. Of the 100 covid positive patients, 30 were vaccinated and 70 were not, with 8 vaccinated and 63 non-vaccinated individuals hospitalized due to increased severity. Only 27% of vaccinated people had elevated CRP levels, whereas up to 90% of non-vaccinated people had elevated CRP levels, emphasizing the importance of vaccination in reducing the severity of covid-19 infection. From this study, it was concluded that it is mandatory to estimate CRP level in covid- 19 patients as it is an inflammatory marker to assess the severity of the infection in them. Consequently, it is found that vaccines play an important role in reducing the severity of covid infection (as inflammation is reduced)