Correlation of C-Reactive Protein and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate in Covid-19 Cases

Abstract

In December 2019, a mysterious pneumonia case was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province known as COVID-19, and its etiologic agent, SARS-Cov-2 virus. C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is a homopentameric protein that appears in inflammatory conditions. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) increases in both acute and chronic inflammations. This study aimed to determine the correlation between CRP and ESR concentrations with the status of PCR diagnostic test results in patients. It was a correlation study with a cross-sectional approach. The data was taken from results from the first PCR and laboratory examination of the patients for COVID-19. The population of this study was patients under monitoring (PDP) for COVID-19 who were treated at a hospital in East Bekasi, West Java. The sample for this study was 65 people, consisting of 28 (43.1%) negative COVID-19 patients and 37 (56.9%) positive COVID-19 patients. The results showed that at the start of the PCR test for COVID-19, there was a weakly significant increase in CRP (r=0.311), and there was a significant relationship between the COVID-19 PCR results and the patient's CRP levels (p=0.040) in the age group 1-40 years. In addition, there was an increase in the respiratory rate in patients with high CRP with a weak significance (r=0.366), and a significant relationship between the CRP test results and the patients’ respiratory rate (p=0.026). In addition, there was a strong relationship between CRP increase and LED increase (p=0.000).