New Study: A Simple Blood Test May Help Identify Severity Of COVID-19

More than seven months after COVID-19 outbreak started in China’s Wuhan, the world is still grappling with the challenge of finding effective treatment for the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

The severity of the disease and its symptoms have left researchers baffled.

A new study has found that a simple blood test could help in the matter.

A report in Express.co.uk says that scientists from the George Washington University in USA have studied different characteristics of patients’ blood to see whether there was a link between these and the seriousness of the infection. These blood properties, called the biomarkers, can give medical professionals insight into what is happening in the body.

The scientists found out that there could be a link between five biomarkers and increased risk of COVID-19. The study also suggested that a blood test could be done to find out if patients require more intensive care for COVID-19.

“We hope these biomarkers help physicians determine how aggressively they need to treat patients, whether a patient should be discharged, and how to monitor patients who are going home, among other clinical decisions,” sais the first author of the study Shant Ayanian.

The study was conducted on 300 people, 200 of whom had the biomarkers that the scientists were looking for. The biomarkers observed by scientists are IL-6, D-dimer, CRP, LDH and ferritin.

If the amount of these biomarkers in the blood increases, it implies inflammation or bleeding disorder in the body, necessitating intensive care in the case of COVID-19.