C-REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVELS AS PREDICTORS OF COVID-19 SEVERITY: A RETROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY
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Keywords
COVID‐19, Prognostic marker, Inflammatory response, Disease severity, Disease progression, Serum marker
Abstract
Background: Since its emergence in China in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has posed significant global health challenges due to its rapid spread and high mortality. Predicting COVID-19 severity remains difficult, with some suggesting C-reactive protein (CRP) as a potential early marker for severe cases. This study examines the relationship between CRP levels and COVID-19 severity to better manage the disease and aimed to investigate CRP’s utility in prognosticating COVID-19 to improve patient outcomes The study has included patients of more than 18 years diagnosed with COVID-19 infection by RT-PCR method and admitted in either ward or ICU or having any comorbid conditions eg: Diabetes, Hypertension.
Materials and Methods: Analysis regarding serum CRP with the severity of disease was done. Among all statistical tests, Chi-square tests were used where P <0.05 was taken as significant. This two-month retrospective study at Great Eastern Medical School and Hospital, Andhra Pradesh, analyzed data from 152 COVID-19 patients confirmed by RT-PCR. Data on demographics, clinical histories, and CRP levels determined by nephelometry were extracted from the hospital’s Laboratory Information System, following ethical approval.
Results: Analysis of 152 COVID-19 patients showed those with CRP levels >100 mg/L had a higher likelihood of severe disease. The values were categorised based on the values we received after the investigation. And the patients were suffering from more severe conditions who had >100mg/L of CRP values. The severity was determined based on the symptoms and signs patients presented during their stay in hospital. The majority (76.3%) had non-severe cases, with a significant 23.7% presenting with severe symptoms. CRP values ranged, with most patients having levels between 8.01-50.0mg/L or <8mg/L, correlating to illness severity.
Conclusion: High CRP levels may serve as an early indicator of potential disease severity in COVID-19, aiding timely intervention. While limited by sample size and being a single-center retrospective analysis, these findings call for larger, multicenter studies with repeated CRP measures for validation. Monitoring high-CRP patients closely is recommended.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JPTCP are licensed under Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Aruna Rani Behera
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital -2, Phulnakhara, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India;
Sangeeta Panigrahy
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Great Eastern Medical School & Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India;
Pulavarthi Samatha
Professor & HOD, Department of Microbiology, Great Eastern Medical School & Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Basava Siva Prasad Reddy
Professor, Department of Microbiology, National Institute of Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India