Validity of CBC Differential Count for Diagnosis of COVID-19

Abstract

Abstract Background With rapid spreading of the outbreak of 2019-nCoV infection, the WHO announced a public health emergency of international concern. Among most common easily performed and inexpensive diagnostic procedures are Complete blood counts (CBC). Aim of the Work to evaluate efficacy of complete blood picture (CBC) in diagnosis and identifying cases of COVID-19. Patients and Methods A case control study was conducted on a total of 173 patients at Ain Shams University Hospitals during a period of three months since beginning of data collection. Patients were allocated into 2 groups according to COVID-19 PCR result: GROUP 1: Patients with COVID-19 Positive PCR; GROUP 2: Patients with COVID-19 Negative PCR. Results CBC differential count has significant value in diagnosing of covid-19 disease, many of COVID patients have lymphopenia and leucopenia in comparison to non COVID suspected patients. Conclusion The definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 was made by RT-PCR analysis, but this was a time-consuming and less accessible test. With this test, the time it takes to diagnose and treat patients can be delayed. In our study, low values of leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes and eosinophils with a CBC test which is easily available, were found to be valuable in terms of the initial diagnosis of COVID-19.