Evaluation of the Diagnostic Value of Hematologic Parameters and Ratios in SARS-CoV-2 VOC-202012/01 Mutant Population

Introduction In this study, we set out to study possible differences between individuals with and without VOC 202012/01 variant by using less costly complete blood count analytes and quickly analyzing the samples and ratios derived from these analytes. For this purpose, we assessed neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet, and Red Blood Cell Distribution Width-Standard Deviation (RDW-SD) levels among complete blood count parameters (CBC) (identification and count of red blood cell, neutrophil, eosinophil, basophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, platelet) as well as the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed over the course of two months (from May to June 2021) on 212 patients who presented to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital with Covid-19 symptoms and took SARS-CoV2 PCR and CBC tests. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed SARS-CoV2 positive patients and their hospitalization data were gathered from the public health management system. Their VOC-202012/01 mutation status was also confirmed by this system. Results RDW-SD, RDW, NLR, and PLR indexes, as well as C-reactive protein (CRP), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) values, were higher in the patients with VOC-202012/01 mutation (p<0.0001) than those without mutation, while hemoglobin and hematocrit counts and ratio, as well as eosinophil and lymphocyte counts, remained lower in the patients with mutation (p<0.0001). Conclusion NLR and RLP ratios derived from hematological parameters and models based on these ratios and RDW-SD are cheaper and more widely used. Our study suggests that the hematological analytes, the ratios obtained from these analytes, and the models created through these ratios in patients presenting to the ED with COVID-19-like symptoms and having positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results were significantly different in those with and without the VOC-202012/01 mutation. The bottom line is that they can serve as reliable predictors in the assessment of patients with the VOC-202012/01 mutation.