Evaluation of epstein barr virus from a group of Covid-19 patients in Iraq

Covid-19 has recently had a severe impact on the whole world, and it is an encapsulated, positive sense, single-stranded RNA virus with a nucleocapsid. Among Covid-19 patients, those infected with Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) have a higher rate of respiratory failure than those infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus alone. To investigate the status in Iraq, nazopharyngeal swab samples were collected from 100 patients, male and female, over the age of 50, with covid-19, without any chronic disease, and from 50 non-covid- 19 control group individuals in Kirkuk Al-Shifaa Epidemiology Hospital between February 10 and September 1, 2022. Epstein Barr Virus IgM, IL-6, and D-dimer analyzes were used with the ELISA technique. C-reactive protein (CPR) analysis was performed by immunofluorescence, and blood samples were taken from the patients and control group to determine Ferritin. Accordingly, it was confirmed by PCR that 90% of the patients were positive for Covid-19, and 48.9% of these patients were found to have EBV- IgM. It has been found that the majority of COVID-19 patients, especially those with EVB+, exhibit a moderate to severe infection state. COVID-19 patients with EBV+ had higher levels of IL-6, ferritin, D-Dimer, and CRP. According to the results obtained from this study, it has been shown that IL-6 can be used as a biomarker in determining the severity of Covid-19 in parallel with Ferritin, D-Dimer, and CRP.