Platelet to Lymphocyte Ratio and Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio as a Severity Marker in Moderate to Severe COVID-19 Patients
Author(s): Clovey Singhal, Abhishek Joshi*, Ashok Mehendale and Lokesh Mukut Vaishnav
Abstract
The world is facing COVID-19 pandemic which has created havoc amongst the mankind. It has created huge burden on health care facilities. The COVID-19 disease is caused by a newly emerged mutant of corona virus that is SARS-CoV-2. The virus is highly contagious and infects through respiratory route. It invades the respiratory tract mainly lungs causing coronavirus pneumonia. Patients usually present with fever, non-productive cough, breathlessness, myalgia, fatigue. In severe cases, disease can rapidly progress to ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), septic shock, MODS (Multi-Organ Dysfunction Syndrome). Death may occur due to the complications. Furthermore, early diagnosis of severe cases and early interventions help in decreasing the burden on intensive healthcare facilities. HRCT scans are being used to assess the disease severity and CT score were calculated which was graded as mild, moderate and severe with score 0-8, 9-15 and 16-25 respectively. But this is highly expensive for general population of a developing country like India. Interleukins, D-dimer, ferritin, pro-calcitonin tests have also been used to assess the severity but again they pose a financial constraint for the population. So we needed a basic investigation which could let us assess the severity of disease and prognosis of the patient early for effective and early management of the patient. This might help provide better intensive care management for the patients at early stage and decrease the morbidity and mortality in COVID 19 patients. We have tried to unfold the CBC as prognostic marker for COVID-19 patients.