Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly impacted global health, leading to severe disease and high mortality rates. Understanding the severity of COVID-19 and its associated mortality is crucial for managing the pandemic and developing effective treatments.Patients can present with a wide array of symptoms. Laboratory investigations of these patients for several biochemical and hematological tests are routinely requested. Here we wanted to evaluate the utility of procalcitonin (PCT), ferritin, D-Dimer, interleukin 6 (IL-6) , C-reactive protein, total lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, lymphoctic count and neutrophils/ lymphocytes ratio in predicting severity and mortalitity of COVID-19 infection.

This study was undertaken at Alexandria university main hospital representing 180 COVID-19 RT-PCR positive patients after approval of the Ethical Committee of the Medical Research Institute and exclusion of patients with chronic lung diseases, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, hypertension, malignancy and previous history of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The patients were grouped according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines; as mild to moderate (n=80) and severe to critical (n= 100). All routine clinical chemistry analysis was performed as part of routine baseline assessment. Biomarkers of inflammation and infection were tested via the measurement of CRP, IL-6, PCT and ferritin. In addition to urea , creartinine, AST, ALT, LDH and complete blood count as well as INR and D-Dimer.