Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the role of absolute lymphocyte count（LYMPH#）in predicting prognosis of corona virus disease 2019（COVID-19）patients. Methods A total of 123 COVID-19 patients were enrolled in this retrospective study. There were 112 mild cases and 11 severe cases. The LYMPH# in peripheral blood were collected at the initial hospitalization,before discharge,and at the initial follow-up. Clinical data of all the patients were also collected. Results Severe patients were older than mild patients. At the initial hospitalization,the LYMPH# of 50.89%（57/112）of mild group was lower than normal value,and the LYMPH# of 72.73%（8/11）of severe group was lower than referencevalue. There was no significant difference in the LYMPH# between mild group and severe group at the initial hospitalization（P=0.789）. There was significant difference in the recovery LYMPH# [（initial follow-up results-first admission results）/initial follow-up results] between the two groups（P=0.014）. There was the difference of LYMPH# between before discharge and the first follow-up（P=0.038）. Conclusion The cellular immune function of COVID-19 patients is generally low,and needs continuous monitoring. LYMPH# can be used as an indicator to monitor the immune function and predict the prognosis of COVID-19 patients.

Key words: Corona virus disease 2019, Absolute lymphocyte count, Prognosis