The Comparison of Laboratory Parameters of COVID-19 Patients in Universitas Indonesia Hospital Before and During Delta Variant Periode

Abstract

There has been a change in the SARS-CoV-2 variant from the initial entry into Indonesia (March 2020) until now, and the Delta variant was discovered in March 2021. This study aims to evaluate the differences in clinical and laboratory characteristics between the initial period for the entry of COVID-19 and the Delta variant period at Universitas Indonesia Hospital, Depok, Indonesia. The study design was a retrospective cross-sectional conducted at Universitas Indonesia Hospital, Depok, using medical record data of COVID-19 patients who were admitted to the hospital from July 2020 to October 2021, which was divided into two periods, namely July 2020-February 2021, which was considered the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, and March-October 2021 which are considered as the period of the Delta variant. 100 patients were randomly selected in each period. There was a shift to older age with moderate to critical severity, more co-morbidities, longer length of stay in hospital, and higher mortality in the Delta period than the initial period of COVID-19. Laboratory parameters that gave significant differences were leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, aPTT, D-dimer, AST, urea, pCO₂, O₂ saturation, sodium, and CRP. During the Delta variant period, there was an increase in the levels of leukocytes, neutrophils, D-dimer, AST, urea, pCO2, and CRP. Conversely, lymphocyte counts decreased and the aPTT duration was shortened. The median oxygen saturation was also higher, although its minimal value was lower and sodium levels were reduced. The results of this study can be used as the basis for further research in the direction of pathogenesis, therapy, and prognosis of COVID-19.