The Impact of Peripheral Eosinophil Counts and Eosinophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (ELR) in the Clinical Course of COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Study
Vasiliki Georgakopoulou, Nikolaos Garmpis, Christos Damaskos, Serena Valsami, Dimitrios Dimitroulis, Evangelos Diamantis, Paraskevi Farmaki, Chrysovalantis V. Papageorgiou, Sotiria Makrodimitri, Nikolaos Gravvanis, STAMATIS VELONIAS, Pagona Sklapani, Νικόλαος Τράκας, Efstathios Antoniou, Konstantinos Kontzoglou, Lampros Nikolidakis, Zoi Damaskou, Athanasios Syllaios, Γεώργιος Μαρίνος, Georgia Vogiatzi, GEORGIA-ELENI KORROU, Georgios Kyriakos, LOURDES-VICTORIA QUILES-SANCHEZ, Alexandros Patsouras, Dimitrios Lamprinos, Athanasia Stelianidi, Spyridon Savvanis, Anna Garmpi
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Eosinophils are blood cells responsible for response against parasites and allergens. Eosinophil to lymphocyte ratio (ELR) is a biomarker for inflammatory conditions. Our aim was to evaluate the role of eosinophils and ELR in COVID-19 patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 96 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. They were classified into moderate to severe cases and critical cases. Eosinophils and ELR were determined in both groups, in patients that died or survived and were correlated to duration of hospitalization. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant decrease in eosinophils and ELR between patients that died and patients that survived (p<0.05), and in mean values of the two biomarkers (p<0.05 for eosinophils and p<0.05 for ELR) between patients hospitalized for more or less than 15 days among those with moderate to severe disease. CONCLUSION: Lower eosinophil counts and ERL could probably predict worse outcome in COVID-19 patients.