Effects of lymphocyte, C-reactive protein and prealbumin levels on clinical typing and course of disease in children infected with novel coronavirus

Objectives: To investigate the effects of lymphocyte (LY), C-reactive protein (CRP) and prealbumin (PA) levels on the clinical typing and course of disease in children infected with novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) at the early stage.

Methods: A total of 140 children with 2019-nCoV infection diagnosed in Shijiazhuang People’s Hospital and Hebei Provincial Chest Hospital from January 2021 to February 2021 were selected for this study. According to the clinical symptoms, laboratory results and imaging examination, the children were divided into asymptomatic infection group, mild infection group and common infection group. The levels of white blood cell (WBC), LY, CRP, PA, albumin (ALB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CKMB) in the children were recorded on the 2nd d after the positive detection of 2019-nCoV nucleic acid.

Results: There were 73(52.1%) children in the asymptomatic infection group, 35(25.0%) children in the mild infection group and 32(22.9%) children in the common infection group. LY level in the common infection group was lower than that in the asymptomatic infection group and the mild infection group (F= 3.152, both p< 0.05). CRP level in the common infection group was higher than that in the asymptomatic infection group and the mild infection group (F= 6.343, both p< 0.05). CRP level in the mild infection group was higher than that in the asymptomatic infection group (t= 2.052, p< 0.05). PA level in the common infection group and the mild infection group was lower compared with the asymptomatic infection group (F= 5.229, both p< 0.05). WBC, ALB, AST, ALT, CK and CKMB levels in the three groups showed no statistical significance (F= 1.803, F= 1.208, F= 2.391, F= 1.973, F= 0.401, F= 1.332, respectively, all p> 0.05). Correlation analysis demonstrated that LY and PA levels were negatively correlated with hospital stay (r= -0.265, r= -0.325, both p< 0.050), but CRP level was not correlated with hospital stay (r= -0.039, p> 0.05).

Conclusion: CRP is correlated with the clinical typing of children with 2019-nCoV infection, while LY and PA levels may be closely correlated with the clinical typing and course of treatment of children with 2019-nCoV infection.