Background and Objectives: Several studies have focused on the alterations of hematological parameters for a better understanding of the COVID-19 pathogenesis and also their potential for predicting disease prognosis and severity Although some evidence has indicated the prognostic values of thrombocytopenia, neutrophilia, and lymphopenia, there are conflicting results concerning the leukocyte and monocyte count Materials and Methods: In this retrospective DoubleCentre study, we reviewed the results of WBC and monocyte counts of 1320 COVID-19 patients (243 of whom (18 4%) had severe disease) both on admission and within a 7-day follow-up Results: We found that both the number of monocytes and the percentage of monocytosis were higher in the severe group;however, it was not statistically significant On the other hand, we found that not only the mean number of WBCs was significantly higher in the severe cases also leukocytosis was a common finding in this group;indicating that an increased number of WBC may probably predict a poor prognosis Also, the monocyte count was not affected by age;however, univariate analysis showed that the percentage of leukocytosis was significantly greater in the older group (&gt;50) with an odds ratio of 1 71 (P: 0 003) Conclusion: Alteration of monocytes either on admission or within hospitalization would not provide valuable data about the prediction of COVID-19 prognosis Although the rapidly evolving nature of COVID-19 is the major limitation of the present study, further investigations in the field of laboratory biomarkers will pave the way to manage patients with severe disease better [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Iranian Journal of Microbiology is the property of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )
Differential alteration trend of white blood cells (WBCs) and monocytes count in severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients within a 7-day follow-up