Evaluation of WBC Parameters and Their Significance in COVID-19 Patients in Western Maharashtra, India

Background and objectives: in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19), white blood cell (wbc) abnormalities have been found worldwide with significant inter-regional differences. in the present study, we evaluated wbc parameters concerning covid-19 positivity and severity. methods: in this cross-sectional study, total wbc count, absolute count of each type of wbc, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (nlr), and lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (lmr) were compared between 150 covid-19 patients and 150 non-covid-19 patients presenting with covid-19-like symptoms. also, covid-19 patients were divided into severe and non-severe cases. results: the severity of the disease had no significant association with age or gender (p>0.05). total wbc count, absolute neutrophil count, absolute monocyte count, and nlr were significantly lower (p<0.05), while lmr was significantly higher in covid-19 patients compared to non-covid-19 patients (p<0.05). total wbc count, absolute neutrophil count, and nlr were significantly higher (p<0.05), while absolute eosinophil count and absolute lymphocyte count were significantly lower (p<0.05) in severe covid-19 patients compared to non-severe patients. conclusions: age is not a predictive factor for the severity of covid-19. routine wbc parameters are useful in predicting the severity of the disease in covid-19 patients and can be used as prognostic indicators. routine wbc parameters can also be used for repeat rt-pcr testing in covid-19 suspected patients.