Abstract

Background: Sudden deterioration of cases in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the most important reasons contributing to deaths. Hence, a cost-effective test is required for early suspicion of COVID-19 cases and triage of patients. The previous studies have already suggested that eosinopenia can be used as a marker of suspicion in COVID-19.

Aims and Objectives: The current study was conducted to find out eosinophil count of blood in COVID-19 patients along with its role to predict severity so that this routine and cost-effective parameter can be utilized for prompt management.

Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was done on hospitalized COVID-19 adult patients where patients were categorized into moderate and severe cases as per guideline of Government of India. Absolute eosinophil count was compared in these two groups by unpaired t-test to find out its significance.

Results: Out of total 176 cases, 45 (25.5%) were categorized as severe while rest 131 (74.5%) patients were in moderate category of disease. Sixty-three patients (35.70%) had absolute eosinophil count as zero while total 105 patients (59.65%) had absolute eosinopenia (defined as eosinophil count

Key words: Coronavirus Disease 2019; Eosinophil; Absolute Eosinophil Count