Investigation of Serum Ferritin for the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity and Mortality: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Acute respiratory failure develops quickly in patients with a severe form of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2). Despite being commonly acknowledged as a measure of the body's overall iron storage, ferritin's predictive value is associated with COVID-19. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between COVID-19 and serum ferritin levels as the biochemical markers of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Method: A biochemical test was performed at Baxshin Hospital in the period from February 2022 to April 2022. It was performed on a total of 85 patients (63.53% males and 36.47% females), ranging in age from 25 to 79 years old, with an average age of 48.4 years old. The patient’s blood samples were taken to screen for ferritin levels. Result: The resulting outcome of this work is high serum ferritin levels for the majority of infected patients. Overall, there is a significant difference between male and female serum ferritin observed with a p-value < 0.05. The median interquartile range (IQR) of serum ferritin was 896 ng/mL for males, while it was only 611 ng/mL for females. The current study showed that age level has a great effect on elevated ferritin levels. It has been discovered that gender impacts increasing ferritin levels; 62% were found to be men and 38% were found to be women, with average ferritin levels of 1111 ng/mL and 712.8 ng/mL, respectively. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 infection causes significant laboratory abnormalities, including a high level of serum ferritin.