Relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) and lymphopenia with disease severity in hospitalized patients with Covid-19 in Yasuj city in 2020

Introduction: Due to the high prevalence of Covid-19 disease and limited treatment capacity, rapid identification of factors indicating the severity of the disease can be very helpful. It is predicted that positive CRP along with lymphopenia is related to the severity of Covid-19 infection. Objective: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between C-reactive protein and lymphopenia with the severity of Covid-19 in PCR-positive patients of two hospitals in Yasuj city in 2020. Methodology: This retrospective study was conducted on 206 patients with Covid-19. The patients’ information including demographic characteristics, laboratory and imaging results, and blood O2 saturation, were extracted from the patients’ files. Results: The participants in the present study included 206 people whose average age was 51.39 years. Also, 103 people (50%) of the participants were male and 103 people (50%) were female. The results of one-way variance analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the amount of lymphocytes in people with severe, moderate and mild disease based on the amount of O2 saturation; however, the level of CRP in these persons showed no significant difference based on blood O2 saturation and CT scan. Moreover, there is no significant difference in the amount of lymphocytes among the patients with severe, moderate and mild Covid based on CT scan. Conclusion: According to the findings, it seems that the amount of lymphopenia can be used to predict the disease severity in patients with Covid-19. It should be noted that the sample of participants in the present research was selected non-randomly and available and the sampling method may have influenced the results of this research. Also, only people infected with Covid have been examined in this research; while, there may be a significant difference in the level of C-reactive protein between people with Covid and healthy people. In other words, it can be said that the way of sample selection, the sample size and the selected population can significantly affect the results of the research.