Lab results of COVID-19 patients: Omicron vs delta variants

Abstract

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus has been a world-known pandemic since February 2020. Multiple variances had been established; the most common variants in Israel were omicron and delta. AIM To analyze and compare laboratory values in the "omicron" and "delta" variants of the coronavirus by conducting follow-up examinations and laboratory audits on COVID-19 patients admitted to our institution. METHODS A retrospective study, two groups, 50 patients in each group. Patients examined positive for COVID-19 were divided into groups according to the common variant at the given time. We reviewed demographic data and laboratory results such as complete blood count and full chemistry, including electrolytes and coagulation parameters. RESULTS The mean age was 52%, 66.53 ± 21.7 were female. No significance was found comparing laboratory results in the following disciplines: Blood count, hemoglobin, and lymphocytes (P = 0.41, P = 0.87, P = 0.97). Omicron and delta variants have higher neutrophil counts, though they are not significantly different (P = 0.38). Coagulation tests: Activated paritial thromoplastin test and international normalized ratio (P = 0.72, P = 0.68). We found no significance of abnormality for all electrolytes. CONCLUSION The study compares laboratory results of blood tests between two variants of the COVID-19 virus – omicron and delta. We found no significance between the variants. Our results show the need for further research with larger data as well as the need to compare all COVID-19 variants.