Comparison of the hemogram parameters of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and patients diagnosed with urban

Introduction and Aim: The COVID-19 virus, which first started in China and spread to the world, is a disease that can result in death. This virus gives similar symptoms to upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). However, there may be differences between COVID-19 disease and URTI disease. In our study, it was aimed to determine whether there is a difference in hemogram parameters by comparing the hemogram parameters of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and patients diagnosed with URTI. Materials and Methods: The sample of the study was carried out among patients who applied to Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Medical Faculty Hospital between 11 March and 31 May 2019 and were diagnosed with URTI, and patients who applied between 11 March and 31 May 2020 and were diagnosed with COVID-19 disease. The total number of cases is 361. Of these patients, 163 were diagnosed with URTI and 198 were diagnosed with COVID-19 disease. Data; In case parametric assumptions are met, the Significance of the Difference Between Two Means Test is used, and if parametric assumptions are not provided, the Mann Whitney U Test is used. Cross-tables and Chi-Square Tests are used to evaluate whether there is a relationship between qualitative variables. Pearson correlation coefficient is used for the relationship between quantitative variables. Statistically, it was considered significant when p values were calculated less than 0.05. Ready-made statistical software was used for calculations (SPSS 22.0 Chicago, IL, USA). Results: 45.2% of the patients were diagnosed with URTI and 54.8% of them were diagnosed with COVID-19. 45.4% were female and 54.6% were male. While the mean age of the total patients was 51.53, it was 51.82 in men and 51.19 in women. When patients were compared by gender, leukocyte (WBC), neutrophil (NE), monocytes (MO), red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean erythrocyte volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and a significant difference was found in thrombocyte (PLT) values (p<0.05). While the mean age of URTI patients in men was 47.5, it was 41 in women, and the mean age of COVID-19 patients in men was 60, while it was 59 in women (p<0.05). The BA values of the female covid-19 patients were found to be higher than the URTI BA values (p<0.05). The mean MCV values of COVID-19 patients of both genders were found to be higher than the URTI MCV value (p<0.05). The mean MCHC values of URTI patients of both genders were found to be higher (p<0.05). The mean RDW values of patients with URTI were found to be higher in women (p<0.05). The mean MPV values of COVID-19 patients in both genders were found to be higher (p<0.05). The mean PDW values of COVID-19 patients in both genders were found to be higher (p<0.05). The mean MO/BA values of COVID-19 patients in both genders were found to be higher (p<0.05). When the MCH values of the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and those diagnosed with URTI were compared, the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were found to be higher (p<0.05). Conclusions: In our study, when the hemogram parameters of the patients with URTI and COVID-19 were evaluated separately, it was observed that many hemogram parameters could help in the diagnosis of the disease and in the differential diagnosis. In every COVID-19 case, the hemogram should be evaluated by studying. Key words: URTI, COVID-19, Hemogram parameters, comparison.