The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected millions of individuals around the globe. Forecasting the COVID-19 severity is essential, and various biomarkers could be used to evaluate it. The current study was therefore aimed to evaluate the serum pro-calcitonin (PCT) level as a biomarker for bacterial co-infection and disease severity in COVID-19 patients. A total of 430 COVID-19 positive individuals were examined, in which 332 (77.2%) were male individuals while 98 (22.8%) were female individuals. Among the examined samples, 281 were classified as moderate (PCT value 0.07 ± 0.06 ng/mL), 95 were severe (PCT value 0.5 ± 0.4 ng/mL), and 54 were classified as critical (PCT value > 1 ng/mL) individuals. The increase in the total serum level of PCT was observed with the severity of the disease (p < 0.05). The statistical analysis represented no association of PCT value with gender (p 0.9650) while revealed a significant association (p < 0.001) with the age and PCT value in COVID-19 patients. It can be concluded that the serial PCT measurement could determine the prognosis of the disease and the presence of bacterial co-infection in COVID-19 patients. Further exploration of the topic is needed to evaluate the effect of different therapies on the PCT level and to prescribe specific treatment options for coinfection.
【저자키워드】 Biomarker, disease severity, procalcitonin, bacterial co-infection, -COVID 19, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, pandemic, therapy, Prognosis, severity, COVID-19 severity, Gender, Forecasting, serum, male, female, age, Critical, moderate, COVID-19 patients, association, statistical analysis, Topic, Serum level, individual, specific treatment, PCT, pro-calcitonin, evaluate, examined, globe, the disease, determine, increase in, individuals, evaluate the effect, positive individual, used to evaluate, 【제목키워드】 serum, COVID-19 patient, procalcitonin level,