Haematological profile in COVID-19: Insights from Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and later declared a pandemic with a novel β-Coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as the causative agent. However, in resource-poor settings with other overburdened public health issues such as malaria, diarrhoea, and typhoid fever, clinical virology laboratories are almost impossible to operationalize. This justifies the need for the use of complete blood count (CBC) analysis to guide clinical case management. This cross-sectional study investigated haematological parameters of 45 symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 confirmed cases in comparison with 45 age- and gender-matched non-COVID-19 apparently healthy controls in Kano, Nigeria. Complete blood count and differentials were analyzed using Dymind DH-36 automated haematology analyzer. The results obtained were compared using independent sample T-test. The mean age of the participants was 39.5 ± 14.8 years, the minimum was 22 years, and the maximum was 45 years. Males constituted the majority (64.4%). In comparison with the controls, COVID-19 individuals had significantly higher mean values for total white blood cell count (P = 0.001) and neutrophils (P = 0.002) and also lower mean values for basophils (P = 0.001), eosinophils (P = 0.001), lymphocytes (P = 0.001), total red blood cell (P = 0.003), packed cell volume (P = 0.001), and haemoglobin concentration (P = 0.001). In conclusion, haematological parameters are valuable indices, and the results can effectively predict individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 irrespective of disease severity.